JOHN  JASPER 


WILLIAM  E.  HATCHER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


JOHN     JASPER 


JOHN    JASPER 


The    Unmatched    Negro 
Philosopher  and  Preacher 


By 

WILLIAM  E.  HATCHER,  LL.  D. 


NEW  YORK       CHICAGO       TORONTO 
Fleming  H.   Revell   Company 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  75  Princes  Street 


o 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 7 

I.  JASPER  PRESENTED 15 

II.  JASPER  HAS  A  THRILLING  CONVERSION         .  23 

III.  How  JASPER  GOT  His  SCHOOLING       .         .  30 

IV.  THE  SLAVE  PREACHER        ....  36 

V.  "  WHAR  SIN  KUM  FRUM  ? "         ...  47 

VI.  JASPER  SET  FREE 58 

VII.  THE  PICTURE-MAKER          ....  65 

VIII.  JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS      .         .         .         .72 

IX.  JASPER'S   SERMON  ON    "DEM  SEBUN  WIM- 

MIN*'         ......  89 

X.  JASPER  GLIMPSED  UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  .  94 

XI.  SERMON  : — THE    STONE  CUT  OUT  OF  THE 

MOUNTAIN      .         .         .         .         .         .108 

XII.  FACTS  CONCERNING  THE  SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  121 

XIII.  THE  SUN  Do  MOVE 133 

XIV.  ONE    JASPER    DAY    IN   THE   SPRING  TIME 

OF  1878 150 

XV.  JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN     .        .        .174 


2201125 


INTRODUCTION 

READER  ;  stay  a  moment.  A  word  with  you 
before  you  begin  to  sample  this  book.  We  will 
tell  you  some  things  in  advance,  which  may  help 
you  to  decide  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  read 
any  further.  These  pages  deal  with  a  negro, 
and  are  not  designed  either  to  help  or  to  hurt 
the  negro  race.  They  have  only  to  do  with  one 
man.  He  was  one  of  a  class, — without  pedigree, 
and  really  without  successors,  except  that  he  was 
so  dominant  and  infectious  that  numbers  of  peo- 
ple affected  his  ways  and  dreamed  that  they  were 
one  of  his  sort.  As  a  fact,  they  were  simply  of 
another  and  of  a  baser  sort. 

The  man  in  question  was  a  negro,  and  if  you 
cannot  appreciate  greatness  in  a  black  skin  you 
would  do  well  to  turn  your  thoughts  into  some 
other  channel.  Moreover,  he  was  a  negro  cov- 
ered over  with  ante  bellum  habits  and  ways  of 
doing.  He  lived  forty  years  before  the  war  and 
for  about  forty  years  after  it.  He  grew  wonder- 
fully as  a  freeman  ;  but  he  never  grew  away  from 
the  tastes,  dialects,  and  manners  of  the  bondage 
times.  He  was  a  man  left  over  from  the  old 
regime  and  never  got  infected  with  the  new 
order.  The  air  of  the  educated  negro  preacher 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION 

didn't  set  well  upon  him.  The  raw  scholarship 
of  the  new  "  ish,"  as  he  called  it,  was  sounding 
brass  to  him.  As  a  fact,  the  new  generation  of 
negro  preachers  sent  out  by  the  schools  drew 
back  from  this  man.  They  branded  him  as  an 
anachronism,  and  felt  that  his  presence  in  the 
pulpit  was  a  shock  to  religion  and  an  offense  to 
the  ministry  ;  and  yet  not  one  of  them  ever  at- 
tained the  celebrity  or  achieved  the  results  which 
came  to  this  unlettered  and  grievously  ungram- 
matical  son  of  Africa. 

But  do  not  be  afraid  that  you  are  to  be  fooled 
into  the  fanatical  camp.  This  story  comes  from 
the  pen  of  a  Virginian  who  claims  no  exemption 
from  Southern  prejudices  and  feels  no  call  to 
sound  the  praises  of  the  negro  race.  Indeed,  he 
never  intended  to  write  what  is  contained  within 
the  covers  of  this  book.  It  grew  up  spontaneously 
and  most  of  the  contents  were  written  before  the 
book  was  thought  of. 

It  is,  perhaps,  too  much  to  expect  that  the 
meddlers  with  books  will  take  the  ipse  dixit  of 
an  unaccredited  stranger.  They  ought  not  to  do 
it :  they  are  not  asked  to  do  it.  They  can  go  on 
about  their  business,  if  they  prefer ;  but  if  they 
do,  they  will  miss  the  story  of  the  incomparable 
negro  of  the  South.  This  is  said  with  sobriety 
and  after  a  half  century  spent  in  close  observa- 
tion of  the  negro  race. 

More  than  that,  the  writer  of  this  never  had 


INTRODUCTION  9 

any  intention  of  bothering  with  this  man  when 
he  first  loomed  up  into  notoriety.  He  got  drawn 
in  unexpectedly.  He  heard  that  there  was  a 
marvel  of  a  man  "over  in  Africa,"  a  not  too 
savoury  portion  of  Richmond,  Virginia, — and 
one  Sunday  afternoon  in  company  with  a  Scot- 
Irishman,  who  was  a  scholar  and  a  critic,  with  a 
strong  leaning  towards  ridicule,  he  went  to  hear 
him  preach.  Shades  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  fathers  1 
Did  mortal  lips  ever  gush  with  such  torrents  of 
horrible  English !  Hardly  a  word  came  out 
clothed  and  in  its  right  mind.  And  gestures ! 
He  circled  around  the  pulpit  with  his  ankle  in  his 
hand ;  and  laughed  and  sang  and  shouted  and 
acted  about  a  dozen  characters  within  the  space 
of  three  minutes.  Meanwhile,  in  spite  of  these 
things,  he  was  pouring  out  a  gospel  sermon,  red 
hot,  full  of  love,  full  of  invective,  full  of  tender- 
ness, full  of  bitterness,  full  of  tears,  full  of  every 
passion  that  ever  flamed  in  the  human  breast. 
He  was  a  theatre  within  himself,  with  the  stage 
crowded  with  actors.  He  was  a  battle-field ; — 
himself  the  general,  the  staff,  the  officers,  the  com- 
mon soldiery,  the  thundering  artillery  and  the  rat- 
tling musketry.  He  was  the  preacher  ;  likewise 
the  church  and  the  choir  and  the  deacons  and  the 
congregation.  The  Scot-Irishman  surrendered  in 
fifteen  minutes  after  the  affair  commenced,  but  the 
other  man  was  hard-hearted  and  stubborn  and  re- 
fused to  commit  himself.  He  preferred  to  wait 


10  INTKODUCTION 

until  he  got  out  of  doors  and  let  the  wind  blow  on 
him  and  see  what  was  left.  He  determined  to  go 
again ;  and  he  went  and  kept  going,  off  and  on, 
for  twenty  years.  That  was  before  the  negro 
became  a  national  figure.  It  was  before  he 
startled  his  race  with  his  philosophy  as  to  the 
rotation  of  the  sun.  It  was  before  he  became  a 
lecturer  and  a  sensation,  sought  after  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Then  it  was  that  he  cap- 
tured the  Scot-Irish  and  the  other  man  also. 
What  is  written  here  constitutes  the  gatherings 
of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and,  frankly 
speaking,  is  a  tribute  to  the  brother  in  black, — 
the  one  unmatched,  unapproachable,  and  won- 
derful brother. 

But  possibly  the  reader  is  of  the  practical  sort. 
He  would  like  to  get  the  worldly  view  of  this 
African  genius  and  to  find  out  of  what  stuff  he 
was  made.  Very  well ;  he  will  be  gratified ! 
Newspapers  are  heartlessly  practical.  They  are 
grudging  of  editorial  commendation,  and  in 
Richmond,  at  the  period,  they  were  sparing  of 
references  of  any  kind  to  negroes.  You  could 
hardly  expect  them  to  say  anything  commenda- 
tory of  a  negro,  if  he  was  a  negro,  with  odd  and 
impossible  notions.  Now  this  man  was  of  that 
very  sort.  He  got  it  into  his  big  skull  that  the 
earth  was  flat,  and  that  the  sun  rotated  ; — a  sci- 
entific absurdity !  But  you  see  he  proved  it  by 
the  Bible.  He  ransacked  the  whole  book  and 


INTRODUCTION  11 

got  up  ever  so  many  passages.  He  took  them 
just  as  he  found  them.  It  never  occurred  to  him 
that  the  Bible  was  not  dealing  with  natural  sci- 
ence, and  that  it  was  written  in  an  age  and 
country  when  astronomy  was  unknown  and 
therefore  written  in  the  language  of  the  time. 
Intelligent  people  understand  this  very  well,  but 
this  miracle  of  his  race  was  behind  his  era.  He 
took  the  Bible  literally,  and,  with  it  in  hand,  he 
fought  his  battles  about  the  sun.  Literally,  but 
not  scientifically,  he  proved  his  position,  and  he 
gave  some  of  his  devout  antagonists  a  world  of 
botheration  by  the  tenacity  with  which  he  held 
to  his  views  and  the  power  with  which  he  stated 
his  case.  Scientifically,  he  was  one  of  the  ancients, 
but  that  did  not  interfere  with  his  piety  and  did 
not  at  all  eclipse  his  views.  His  perfect  honesty 
was  most  apparent  in  all  of  his  contentions ;  and, 
while  some  laughed  at  what  they  called  his 
vagaries,  those  who  knew  him  best  respected  him 
none  the  less,  but  rather  the  more,  for  his  astro- 
nomical combat.  There  was  something  in  his 
love  of  the  Bible,  his  faith  in  every  letter  of  it, 
and  his  courage,  that  drew  to  him  the  good  will 
and  lofty  respect  of  uncounted  thousands  and, 
probably,  it  might  be  said,  of  uncounted  millions. 
Now  when  this  man  died  it  was  as  the  fall  of  a 
tower.  It  was  a  crash,  heard  and  felt  farther 
than  was  the  collapse  of  the  famous  tower  at 
Venice.  If  the  dubious,  undecided  reader  has 


12  INTRODUCTION 

not  broken  down  on  the  road  but  has  come  this 
far,  he  is  invited  to  look  at  the  subjoined  editorial 
from  Tke  Richmond  Dispatch,  the  leading  morn- 
ing paper  of  Richmond,  Va.,  which  published  at 
the  time  an  article  on  this  lofty  figure,  now  national 
in  its  proportions  and  imperishable  in  its  fame, 
when  it  bowed  to  the  solemn  edict  of  death. 

(From  The  Richmond  Dispatch} 

"  It  is  a  sad  coincidence  that  the  destruction 
of  the  Jefferson  Hotel  and  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  John  Jasper  should  have  fallen  upon  the 
same  day.  John  Jasper  was  a  Richmond  Insti- 
tution, as  surely  so  as  was  Major  Ginter's  fine 
hotel.  He  was  a  national  character,  and  he  and 
his  philosophy  were  known  from  one  end  of  the 
land  to  the  other.  Some  people  have  the  im- 
pression that  John  Jasper  was  famous  simply  be- 
cause he  flew  in  the  face  of  the  scientists  and  de- 
clared that  the  sun  moved.  In  one  sense,  that  is 
true,  but  it  is  also  true  that  his  fame  was  due,  in 
great  measure,  to  a  strong  personality,  to  a  deep, 
earnest  conviction,  as  well  as  to  a  devout  Chris- 
tian character.  Some  preachers  might  have 
made  this  assertion  about  the  sun's  motion  with- 
out having  attracted  any  special  attention.  The 
people  would  have  laughed  over  it,  and  the  in- 
cident would  have  passed  by  as  a  summer  breeze. 
But  John  Jasper  made  an  impression  upon  his 
generation,  because  he  was  sincerely  and  deeply 


INTRODUCTION  13 

in  earnest  in  all  that  he  said.  No  man  could 
talk  with  him  in  private,  or  listen  to  him  from 
the  pulpit,  without  being  thoroughly  convinced 
of  that  fact.  His  implicit  trust  in  the  Bible  and 
everything  in  it,  was  beautiful  and  impressive. 
He  had  no  other  lamp  by  which  his  feet  were 
guided.  He  had  no  other  science,  no  other 
philosophy.  He  took  the  Bible  in  its  literal  sig- 
nificance ;  he  accepted  it  as  the  inspired  word  of 
God ;  he  trusted  it  with  all  his  heart  and  soul 
and  mind  ;  he  believed  nothing  that  was  in  con- 
flict with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible — scientists 
and  philosophers  and  theologians  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. 

"  '  They  tried  to  make  it  appear,'  said  he,  in  the 
last  talk  we  had  with  him  on  the  subject,  '  that 
John  Jasper  was  a  fool  and  a  liar  when  he  said 
that  the  sun  moved.  I  paid  no  attention  to  it  at 
first,  because  I  did  not  believe  that  the  so-called 
scientists  were  in  earnest.  I  did  not  think  that 
there  was  any  man  in  the  world  fool  enough  to 
believe  that  the  sun  did  not  move,  for  everybody 
had  seen  it  move.  But  when  I  found  that  these 
so-called  scientists  were  in  earnest  I  took  down 
my  old  Bible  and  proved  that  they,  and  not  John 
Jasper,  were  the  fools  and  the  liars.'  And  there 
was  no  more  doubt  in  his  mind  on  that  subject 
than  there  was  of  his  existence.  John  Jasper  had 
the  faith  that  removed  mountains.  He  knew  the 
literal  Bible  as  well  as  Bible  scholars  did.  He 


14:  INTRODUCTION 

did  not  understand  it  from  the  scientific  point  of 
view,  but  he  knew  its  teachings  and  understood 
its  spirit,  and  he  believed  in  it.  He  accepted  it 
as  the  true  word  of  God,  and  he  preached  it  with 
unction  and  with  power. 

"  John  Jasper  became  famous  by  accident,  but 
he  was  a  most  interesting  man  apart  from  his 
solar  theory.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  convictions, 
a  man  with  a  purpose  in  life,  a  man  who  earnestly 
desired  to  save  souls  for  heaven.  He  followed 
his  divine  calling  with  faithfulness,  with  a  de- 
termination, as  far  as  he  could,  to  make  the  ways 
of  his  God  known  unto  men,  His  saving  health 
among  all  nations.  And  the  Lord  poured  upon 
His  servant,  Jasper,  '  the  continual  dew  of  His 
blessing.' " 


JASPER  PRESENTED 

JOHN  JASPER,  the  negro  preacher  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  stands  preeminent  among  the  preachers 
of  the  negro  race  in  the  South.  He  was  for  fifty 
years  a  slave,  and  a  preacher  during  twenty-five 
years  of  his  slavery,  and  distinctly  of  the  old 
plantation  type.  Freedom  came  full-handed  to 
him,  but  it  did  not  in  any  notable  degree  change 
him  in  his  style,  language,  or  manner  of  preach- 
ing. He  was  the  ante  bellum  preacher  until 
eighty-nine  years  of  age,  when  he  preached  his 
last  sermon  on  "Regeneration,"  and  with  quiet 
dignity  laid  off  his  mortal  coil  and  entered  the 
world  invisible.  He  was  the  last  of  his  type,  and 
we  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again.  It  has 
been  my  cherished  purpose  for  some  time  to 
embalm  the  memory  of  this  extraordinary  genius 
in  some  form  that  would  preserve  it  from  oblivion. 
I  would  give  to  the  American  people  a  picture 
of  the  God-made  preacher  who  was  great  in  his 
bondage  and  became  immortal  in  his  freedom. 

This  is  not  to  be  done  in  biographic  form,  but 
rather  in  vagrant  articles  which  find  their  kin- 
ship only  in  the  fact  that  they  present  some  dis- 
tinct view  of  a  man,  hampered  by  early  limita- 

'5 


16  JOHN  JASPER 

tions,  denied  the  graces  of  culture,  and  cut  off 
even  from  the  advantages  of  a  common  educa- 
tion, but  who  was  munificently  endowed  by  na- 
ture, filled  with  vigour  and  self-reliance,  and  who 
achieved  greatness  in  spite  of  almost  limitless 
adversities.  I  account  him  genuinely  great 
among  the  sons  of  men,  but  I  am  quite  sure  that 
the  public  can  never  apprehend  the  force  and 
gist  of  his  rare  manhood  without  first  being 
made  acquainted  with  certain  facts  appertaining 
to  his  early  life. 

Jasper  was  born  a  slave.  He  grew  up  on  a 
plantation  and  was  a  toiler  in  the  fields  up  to  his 
manhood.  When  he  came  to  Richmond,  now 
grown  to  a  man,  he  was  untutored,  full  of  dan- 
gerous energies,  almost  gigantic  in  his  muscle, 
set  on  pleasure,  and  without  the  fear  of  God  be- 
fore his  eyes.  From  his  own  account  of  himself, 
he  was  fond  of  display,  a  gay  coxcomb  among 
the  women  of  his  race,  a  fun-maker  by  nature, 
with  a  self-assertion  that  made  him  a  leader 
within  the  circles  of  his  freedom. 

We  meet  him  first  as  one  of  the  "  hands  "  in 
the  tobacco  factory  of  Mr.  Samuel  Hargrove, 
an  enterprising  and  prosperous  manufacturer  in 
the  city  of  Richmond.  Jasper  occupied  the 
obscure  position  of  "  a  stemmer," — which  means 
that  his  part  was  to  take  the  well-cured  tobacco 
leaf  and  eliminate  the  stem,  with  a  view  to  pre- 
paring what  was  left  to  be  worked  into  "  the 


JASPER  PRESENTED  1? 

plug"  which  is  the  glory  of  the  tobacco-chewer. 
This  position  had  one  advantage  for  this  quick-: 
witted  and  alert  young  slave.  It  threw  him  into 
contact  with  a  multitude  of  his  own  race,  and 
as  nature  had  made  him  a  lover  of  his  kind  his 
social  qualities  found  ample  scope  for  exercise. 
In  his  early  days  he  went  at  a  perilous  pace  and 
found  in  the  path  of  the  sinful  many  fountains 
of  common  joy.  Indeed,  he  made  evil  things 
fearfully  fascinating  by  the  zestful  and  remorse- 
less way  in  which  he  indulged  them. 

It  was  always  a  joy  renewed  for  him  to  tell 
the  story  of  his  conversion.  As  described  by 
him,  his  initial  religious  experiences,  while  aw- 
fully mystical  and  solemn  to  him,  were  grotesque 
and  ludicrous  enough.  They  partook  of  the 
extravagances  of  the  times,  yet  were  so  honest 
in  their  nature,  and  so  soundly  Scriptural  in  their 
doctrines,  and  so  reverential  in  their  tone,  that 
not  even  the  most  captious  sceptic  could  hear 
him  tell  of  them,  in  his  moments  of  exalted  in- 
spiration, without  feeling  profoundly  moved  by 
them. 

It  ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  odd  and 
forcible  man  was  a  preacher  in  Richmond  for  a 
half  century,  and  that  during  all  that  time, 
whether  in  slavery  or  in  freedom,  he  lived  up  to 
his  religion,  maintaining  his  integrity,  defying 
the  unscrupulous  efforts  of  jealous  foes  to  des- 
troy him,  and  walking  the  high  path  of  spotless 


18  JOHN  JASPER 

and  incorruptible  honour.  Not  that  he  was  al- 
ways popular  among  his  race.  He  was  too  de- 
cided, too  aggressive,  too  intolerant  towards 
meanness,  and  too  unpitying  in  his  castigation  of 
vice,  to  be  popular.  His  life,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  had  to  be  a  warfare,  and  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  he  slept  with  his  sword  buckled  on. 

Emancipation  did  not  turn  his  head.  He  was 
the  same  high-minded,  isolated,  thoughtful  Jas- 
per. His  way  of  preaching  became  an  offense  to 
the  "  edicated  "  preachers  of  the  new  order,  and 
with  their  new  sense  of  power  these  double- 
breasted,  Prince-Albert-coated,  high  hat  and 
kid-gloved  clergymen  needed  telescopes  to  look 
as  far  down  as  Jasper  was,  to  get  a  sight  of  him. 
They  verily  thought  that  it  would  be  a  simple 
process  to  transfix  him  with  their  sneers,  and 
flaunt  their  new  grandeurs  before  him,  in  order 
to  annihilate  him.  Many  of  these  new-fledged 
preachers,  who  came  from  the  schools  to  be  pas- 
tors in  Richmond,  resented  Jasper's  prominence 
and  fame.  They  felt  that  he  was  a  reproach  to 
the  race,  and  they  did  not  fail  to  fling  at  him 
their  flippant  sneers. 

But  Jasper's  mountain  stood  strong.  He 
looked  this  new  tribe  of  his  adversaries  over 
and  marked  them  as  a  calcimined  and  fictitious 
type  of  culture.  To  him  they  were  shop-made 
and  unworthy  of  respect.  They  called  forth  the 
storm  of  his  indignant  wrath.  He  opened  his 


JASPER  PRESENTED  19 

batteries  upon  them,  and,  for  quite  a  while,  the 
thunder  of  his  guns  fairly  shook  the  steeples  on 
the  other  negro  churches  of  Richmond.  And 
yet  it  will  never  do  to  think  of  him  as  the  incar- 
nation of  a  vindictive  and  malevolent  spirit. 
He  dealt  terrific  blows,  and  it  is  hardly  too  much 
to  say  that  many  of  his  adversaries  found  it 
necessary  to  get  out  of  the  range  of  his  guns. 
But,  after  all,  there  was  a  predominant  good 
nature  about  him.  His  humour  was  inexhaust- 
ible, and  irresistible  as  well.  If  by  his  fiery 
denunciations  he  made  his  people  ready  to  "  fight 
Philip,"  he  was  quite  apt  before  he  finished  to  let 
fly  some  of  his  odd  comparisons,  his  laughable 
stories,  or  his  humorous  mimicries.  He  could 
laugh  off  his  own  grievances,  and  could  make 
his  own  people  "  take  the  same  medicine." 

Jasper  was  something  of  a  hermit,  given  to 
seclusion,  imperturbably  calm  in  his  manner, 
quite  ascetic  in  his  tastes,  and  a  cormorant  in 
his  devouring  study  of  the  Bible.  Naturally, 
Jasper  was  as  proud  as  Lucifer, — too  proud 
to  be  egotistic  and  too  candid  and  self-assert- 
ive to  affect  a  humility  which  he  did  not 
feel.  He  walked  heights  where  company  was 
scarce,  and  seemed  to  love  his  solitude.  Jasper 
was  as  brave  as  a  lion  and  possibly  not  a  little 
proud  of  his  bravery.  He  fought  in  the  open 
and  set  no  traps  for  his  adversaries.  He  be- 
lieved in  himself, — felt  the  dignity  of  his  posi- 


20  JOHN  JASPER 

tion,  and  never  let  himself  down  to  what  was 
little  or  unseemly. 

The  most  remarkable  fact  in  Jasper's  history  is 
connected  with  his  extraordinary  performances  in 
connection  with  his  tersely  expressed  theory, — 
THE  SUN  DO  MOVE!  We  would  think  in  ad- 
vance that  any  man  who  would  come  forward  to 
champion  that  view  would  be  hooted  out  of  court. 
It  was  not  so  with  Jasper.  His  bearing  through 
all  that  excitement  was  so  dignified,  so  sincere, 
so  consistent  and  heroic,  that  he  actually  did  win 
the  rank  of  a  true  philosopher.  This  result,  so 
surprising,  is  possibly  the  most  handsome  tribute 
to  his  inherent  excellence  and  nobility  of  charac- 
ter. One  could  not  fail  to  see  that  his  fight  on  a 
technical  question  was  so  manifestly  devout,  so 
filled  with  zeal  for  the  honour  of  religion,  and  so 
courageous  in  the  presence  of  overwhelming 
odds,  that  those  who  did  not  agree  with  him 
learned  to  love  and  honour  him. 

The  sensation  which  he  awakened  fairly  flew 
around  the  country.  It  is  said  that  he  preached 
the  sermon  250  times,  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
estimate  how  many  thousands  of  people  heard 
him.  The  papers,  religious  and  secular,  had 
much  to  say  about  him.  Many  of  them  pub- 
lished his  sermons,  some  of  them  at  first  plying 
him  with  derision,  but  about  all  of  them  rounding 
up  with  the  admission  of  a  good  deal  of  faith  in 
Jasper.  So  vast  was  his  popularity  that  a  mer- 


JASPER  PRESENTED  21 

cenary  syndicate  once  undertook  to  traffic  on  his 
popularity  by  sending  him  forth  as  a  public  lec- 
turer. The  movement  proved  weak  on  its  feet, 
and  after  a  little  travel  he  hobbled  back  richer  in 
experience  than  in  purse. 

As  seen  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  street  Jasper 
was  an  odd  picture  to  look  upon.  His  figure 
was  uncouth  ;  he  was  rather  loosely  put  together ; 
his  limbs  were  fearfully  long  and  his  body  strik- 
ingly short, — a  sort  of  nexus  to  hold  his  head  and 
limbs  in  place.  He  was  black,  but  his  face  saved 
him.  It  was  open,  luminous,  thoughtful,  and  in 
moments  of  animation  it  glowed  with  a  radiance 
and  exultation  that  was  most  attractive. 

Jasper's  career  as  a  preacher  after  the  war  was 
a  poem.  The  story  is  found  later  on  and  marks 
him  as  a  man  of  rare  originality,  and  of  patience 
born  of  a  better  world.  He  left  a  church  almost 
entirely  the  creation  of  his  own  productive  life, 
that  holds  a  high  rank  in  Richmond  and  that 
time  will  find  it  hard  to  estrange  from  his  spirit 
and  influence.  For  quite  a  while  he  was  hardly 
on  cooperative  terms  with  the  neighbouring 
churches,  and  it  is  possible  that  he  ought  to  share 
somewhat  in  the  responsibility  for  the  estrange- 
ment which  so  long  existed  ; — though  it  might  be 
safely  said  that  if  they  had  left  Jasper  alone  he 
would  not  have  bothered  them.  Let  it  be  said 
that  the  animosities  of  those  days  gradually  gave 
away  to  the  gracious  and  softening  influence  of 


22  JOHN  JASPER 

time,  and,  when  his  end  came,  all  the  churches 
and  ministers  of  the  city  most  cordially  and  lov- 
ingly united  in  honouring  his  memory. 

It  may  betoken  the  regard  in  which  Jasper 
was  held  by  the  white  people  if  I  should  be  frank 
enough  to  say  that  I  was  the  pastor  of  the  Grace 
Street  Baptist  Church,  one  of  the  largest  eccle- 
siastical bodies  in  the  city  at  the  time  of  Jasper's 
death,  and  the  simple  announcement  in  the  morn- 
ing papers  that  I  would  deliver  an  address  in 
honour  of  this  negro  preacher  who  had  been  car- 
ried to  his  grave  during  the  previous  week 
brought  together  a  representative  and  deeply 
sympathetic  audience  which  overflowed  the 
largest  church  auditorium  in  the  city.  With  the 
utmost  affection  and  warmth  I  put  forth  my  lofty 
appreciation  of  this  wonderful  prince  of  his  tribe, 
and  so  far  as  known  there  was  never  an  adverse 
criticism  offered  as  to  the  propriety  or  justice  of 
the  tribute  which  was  paid  him. 

It  is  of  this  unusual  man,  this  prodigy  of  his 
race,  and  this  eminent  type  of  the  Christian 
negro,  that  the  somewhat  random  articles  of  this 
volume  are  to  treat.  His  life  jumped  the  com- 
mon grooves  and  ran  on  heights  not  often  trod. 
His  life  went  by  bounds  and  gave  surprises  with 
each  succeeding  leap. 


II 

JASPER  HAS  A  THRILLING  CONVERSION 

LET  us  bear  in  mind  that  at  the  time  of  his 
conversion  John  Jasper  was  a  slave,  illiterate  and 
working  in  a  tobacco  factory  in  Richmond.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  he  shared  the  super- 
stitions and  indulged  in  the  extravagances  of  his 
race,  and  these  in  many  cases  have  been  so 
blatant  and  unreasonable  that  they  have  caused 
some  to  doubt  the  negro's  capacity  for  true  re- 
ligion. But  from  the  beginning  Jasper's  re- 
ligious experiences  showed  forth  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  their  source  and  centre.  His  thoughts  went 
to  the  Cross.  His  hope  was  founded  on  the 
sacrificial  blood,  and  his  noisy  and  rhapsodic 
demonstrations  sounded  a  distinct  note  in  honour 
of  his  Redeemer. 

Jasper's  conviction  as  to  his  call  to  the  ministry 
was  clear-cut  and  intense.  He  believed  that  his 
call  came  straight  from  God.  His  boast  and 
glory  was  that  he  was  a  God-made  preacher. 
In  his  fierce  warfares  with  the  educated  preachers 
of  his  race — "  the  new  issue,"  as  he  contemptu- 
ously called  them — he  rested  his  claim  on  the 
ground  that  God  had  put  him  into  the  ministry ; 
and  so  reverential,  so  full  of  noble  assertion  and 

23 


24  JOHN  JASPER 

so  irresistibly  eloquent  was  he  in  setting  forth 
his  ministerial  authority  that  even  his  most 
sceptical  critics  were  constrained  to  admit  that, 
like  John  the  Baptist,  he  was  "  a  man  sent  from 
God." 

And  yet  Jasper  knew  the  human  side  of  his 
call.  It  was  a  part  of  his  greatness  that  he  could 
see  truth  in  its  relations  and  completeness,  and 
while  often  he  presented  one  side  of  a  truth,  as 
if  it  were  all  of  it,  he  also  saw  the  other  side. 
With  him  a  paradox  was  not  a  contradiction. 
He  gratefully  recognized  the  human  influences 
which  helped  him  to  enter  the  ministry.  While 
preaching  one  Sunday  afternoon  Jasper  suddenly 
stopped,  his  face  lighted  as  with  a  vision,  a  rich 
laugh  rippled  from  his  lips  while  his  eyes  flashed 
with  soulful  fire.  He  then  said,  in  a  manner 
never  to  be  reported :  "  Mars  Sam  Hargrove 
called  me  to  preach  de  Gospel — he  was  my  old 
marster,  and  he  started  me  out  wid  my  message." 
Instantly  the  audience  quivered  with  quickened 
attention,  for  they  knew  at  once  that  the  man  in 
the  pulpit  had  something  great  to  tell. 

"  I  was  seekin'  God  six  long  weeks — jes1 
'cause  I  was  sich  a  fool  I  couldn't  see  de  way, 
De  Lord  struck  me  fus'  on  Cap'tal  Squar',  an'  I 
left  thar  badly  crippled.  One  July  mornin' 
somethin'  happen' d.  I  was  a  tobarker-stemmer 
— dat  is,  I  took  de  tobarker  leaf,  an'  tor'd  de 
stem  out,  an*  dey  won't  no  one  in  dat  fac'ry 


A  THRILLING  CONVERSION  25 

could  beat  me  at  dat  work.  But  dat  mornin'  de 
steins  wouldn't  come  out  to  save  me,  an'  I  tor'd 
up  tobarker  by  de  poun'  an'  flung  it  under  de 
table.  Fac'  is,  bruthr'n,  de  darkness  of  death 
was  in  my  soul  dat  mornin'.  My  sins  was  piled 
on  me  like  mount'ns ;  my  feet  was  sinkin'  down 
to  de  reguns  of  despar,  an'  I  felt  dat  of  all  sinners 
I  was  de  wust.  I  tho't  dat  I  would  die  right  den, 
an'  wid  what  I  supposed  was  my  lars  breath  I 
flung  up  to  heav'n  a  cry  for  mercy.  'Fore  I 
kno'd  it,  de  light  broke  ;  I  was  light  as  a  feather  ; 
my  feet  was  on  de  mount'n;  salvation  rol'd  like  a 
flood  thru  my  soul,  an'  I  felt  as  if  I  could  'nock 
off  de  fact'ry  roof  wid  my  shouts. 

"  But  I  sez  to  mysef,  I  gwine  to  hoi'  still  till 
dinner,  an'  so  I  cried,  an'  laffed,  an'  tore  up  de 
tobarker.  Pres'ntly  I  looked  up  de  table,  an' 
dar  was  a  old  man — he  luv  me,  an'  tried  hard  to 
lead  me  out  de  darkness,  an'  I  slip  roun'  to 
whar  he  was,  an'  I  sez  in  his  ear  as  low  as  I 
could  :  '  Hallelujah  ;  my  soul  is  redeemed  ! ' 
Den  I  jump  back  quick  to  my  work,  but  after  I 
once  open  my  mouf  it  was  hard  to  keep  it  shet 
any  mo'.  'Twan'  long  'fore  I  looked  up  de  line 
agin,  an'  dar  was  a  good  oP  woman  dar  dat 
knew  all  my  sorrers,  an'  had  been  prayin'  fur  me 
all  de  time.  Der  was  no  use  er  talkin* ;  I  had  to 
tell  her,  an'  so  I  skip  along  up  quiet  as  a  breeze, 
an'  start' d  to  whisper  in  her  ear,  but  just  den  de 
holin-back  straps  of  Jasper's  breachin'  broke,  an* 


26  JOHN  JASPER 

what  I  tho't  would  be  a  whisper  was  loud  enuf  to 
be  hearn  clean  'cross  Jeems  River  to  Manchester. 
One  man  sed  he  tho't  de  factory  was  fallin'  down  ; 
all  I  know'd  I  had  raise  my  fust  shout  to  de 
glory  of  my  Redeemer. 

"  But  for  one  thing  thar  would  er  been  a  jin'ral 
revival  in  de  fact'ry  dat  mornin'.  Dat  one  thing 
was  de  overseer.  He  bulg'd  into  de  room,  an' 
wid  a  voice  dat  sounded  like  he  had  his  breakfus 
dat  mornin'  on  rasps  an'  files,  bellowed  out : 
'  What's  all  dis  row  'bout?'  Somebody  shouted 
out  dat  John  Jasper  dun  got  religun,  but  dat 
didn't  wurk  'tall  wid  de  boss.  He  tell  me  to  git 
back  to  my  table,  an'  as  he  had  sumpthin'  in  his 
hand  dat  looked  ugly,  it  was  no  time  fur  makin' 
fine  pints,  so  I  sed:  'Yes,  sir,  I  will;  I  ain't 
meant  no  harm ;  de  fus  taste  of  salvation  got  de 
better  un  me,  but  I'll  git  back  to  my  work.'  An' 
I  tell  you  I  got  back  quick. 

"  Bout  dat  time  Mars  Sam  he  come  out'n  his 
orfis,  an'  he  say  :  '  What's  de  matter  out  here? ' 
An'  I  hear  de  overseer  tellin'  him  :  '  John  Jasper 
kick  up  a  fuss,  an'  say  he  dun  got  religun,  but  I 
dun  fix  him,  an'  he  got  back  to  his  table.'  De 
devil  toF  me  to  hate  de  overseer  dat  mornin',  but 
de  luv  of  God  was  rollin'  thru  my  soul,  an'  some- 
how I  didn't  mind  what  he  sed. 

"  Little  aft'r  I  hear  Mars  Sam  tell  de  overseer 
he  want  to  see  Jasper.  Mars  Sam  was  a  good 
man ;  he  was  a  Baptis',  an'  one  of  de  hed  men 


A  THRILLING  CONVERSION  27 

of  de  old  Fust  Church  down  here,  an'  I  was  glad 
when  I  hear  Mars  Sam  say  he  want  to  see  me. 
When  I  git  in  his  orfis,  he  say :  '  John,  what  was 
de  matter  out  dar  jes'  now  ? ' — and  his  voice  was 
sof  like,  an'  it  seem'd  to  have  a  little  song  in  it 
which  playM.  into  my  soul  like  an  angel's  harp. 
I  sez  to  him  :  '  Mars  Sam,  ever  sence  de  fourth  of 
July  I  ben  cryin'  after  de  Lord,  six  long  weeks, 
an'  jes'  now  out  dar  at  de  table  God  tuk  my  sins 
away,  an'  set  my  feet  on  a  rock.  I  didn't  mean 
to  make  no  noise,  Mars  Sam,  but  'fore  I  know'd 
it  de  fires  broke  out  in  my  soul,  an'  I  jes'  let  go 
one  shout  to  de  glory  of  my  Saviour/ 

"  Mars  Sam  was  settin'  wid  his  eyes  a  little 
down  to  de  flo',  an'  wid  a  pritty  quiv'r  in  his 
voice  he  say  very  slo' :  '  John,  I  b'leve  dat  way 
myself.  I  luv  de  Saviour  dat  you  have  jes' 
foun',  an'  I  wan'  to  tell  you  dat  I  do'n  complain 
'cause  you  made  de  noise  jes'  now  as  you  did.' 
Den  Mars  Sam  did  er  thing  dat  nearly  made  me 
drop  to  de  flo'.  He  git  out  of  his  chair,  an'  walk 
over  to  me  and  giv'  me  his  han',  and  he  say : 
'  John,  I  wish  you  mighty  well.  Your  Saviour  is 
mine,  an'  we  are  bruthers  in  de  Lord.'  When  he 
say  dat,  I  turn  'round  an'  put  my  arm  agin  de 
wall,  an'  held  my  mouf  to  keep  from  shoutin'. 
Mars  Sam  well  know  de  good  he  dun  me. 

"  Art'r  awhile  he  say :  '  John,  did  you  tell  eny 
of  'em  in  thar  'bout  your  conversion  ? '  And  I 
say :  '  Yes,  Mars  Sam,  I  tell  'em  fore  I  kno'd  it, 


28  JOHN  JASPER 

an'  I  feel  like  tellin'  eberybody  in  de  worl'  about 
it.'  Den  he  say  :  '  John,  you  may  tell  it.  Go 
back  in  dar  an'  go  up  an'  down  de  tables,  an'  tell 
all  of  'em.  An'  den  if  you  wan'  to,  go  up-stars 
an'  tell  'em  all  'bout  it,  an'  den  down-stars  an' 
tell  de  hogshed  men  an'  de  drivers  an'  everybody 
what  de  Lord  has  dun  for  yor.' 

"  By  dis  time  Mars  Sam's  face  was  rainin'  tears, 
an'  he  say  :  '  John,  you  needn'  work  no  mo'  to- 
day. I  giv'  you  holiday.  Aft'r  you  git  thru 
tellin'  it  here  at  de  fact'ry,  go  up  to  de  house,  an' 
tell  your  folks  ;  go  roun'  to  your  neighbours,  an' 
tell  dem  ;  go  enywhere  you  wan'  to,  an'  tell  de 
good  news.  It'll  do  you  good,  do  dem  good,  an' 
help  to  hon'r  your  Lord  an'  Saviour.' 

"  Oh,  dat  happy  day  !  Can  I  ever  forgit  it  ? 
Dat  was  my  conversion  mornin',  an'  dat  day  de 
Lord  sent  me  out  wid  de  good  news  of  de  king- 
dom. For  mo'  den  forty  years  I've  ben  tellin'  de 
story.  My  step  is  gittin'  ruther  slo',  my  voice 
breaks  down,  an'  sometimes  I  am  awful  tired, 
but  still  I'm  tellin'  it.  My  lips  shall  proclaim  de 
dyin'  luv  of  de  Lam'  wid  my  las'  expirin'  breath. 

"  Ah,  my  dear  ol'  marster !  He  sleeps  out 
yonder  in  de  ol'  cemetery,  an'  in  dis  worl'  I  shall 
see  his  face  no  mo',  but  I  don't  forgit  him.  He 
give  me  a  holiday,  an'  sent  me  out  to  tell  my 
friends  what  great  things  God  had  dun  for  my 
soul.  Oft'n  as  I  preach  I  feel  that  I'm  doin'  what 
my  ol'  marster  tol'  me  to  do.  If  he  was  here 


A  THRILLING  CONVERSION  29 

now,  I  think  he  would  lif  up  dem  kin'  black  eyes 
of  his,  an'  say  :  *  Dat's  right,  John  ;  still  tellin' 
it ;  fly  like  de  angel,  an'  wherever  you  go  carry 
de  Gospel  to  de  people.'  Farewell,  my  ol' 
marster,  when  I  Ian'  in  de  heav'nly  city,  I'll  call 
at  your  mansion  dat  de  Lord  had  ready  for  you 
when  you  got  dar,  an'  I  shall  say  :  '  Mars  Sam, 
I  did  what  you  toP  me,  an'  many  of  'em  is  comin' 
up  here  wid  da'  robes  wash'd  in  de  blood  of  de 
Lam'  dat  was  led  into  de  way  by  my  preachin', 
an'  as  you  started  me  I  want  you  to  shar*  in  de 
glory  of  da'  salvation.'  An'  I  tell  you  what  I 
reck'n,  dat  when  Mars  Sam  sees  me,  he'll  say : 
'  John,  call  me  marster  no  mo';  we're  bruthers 
now,  an'  we'll  live  forever  roun'  de  throne  of 
God.' " 

This  is  Jasper's  story,  but  largely  in  his  own 
broken  words.  When  he  told  it,  it  swept  over 
the  great  crowd  like  a  celestial  gale.  The  people 
seemed  fascinated  and  transfigured.  His  homely 
way  of  putting  the  Gospel  came  home  to  them. 
Let  me  add  that  his  allusions  to  his  old  master 
were  in  keeping  with  his  kindly  and  conciliatory 
tone  in  all  that  he  had  to  say  about  the  white 
people  after  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  He 
loved  the  white  people,  and  among  them  his 
friends  and  lovers  were  counted  by  the  thousand. 


Ill 

HOW  JASPER  GOT  HIS  SCHOOLING 

THESE  chapters  disclaim  outright  any  preten- 
sion to  biography.  They  deal  with  a  weird,  in- 
describable and  mysterious  genius,  standing  out 
in  gloomy  grandeur,  and  not  needing  the  setting 
forth  of  ordinary  incidents.  At  the  same  time, 
when  an  extraordinary  man  comes  along  and 
does  masterful  things,  there  be  some  who  are 
ready  to  ask  questions.  Was  he  educated? 
Well,  yes,  he  was.  He  had  rare  educational  ad- 
vantages, not  in  the  schools ;  but  what  of  that  ? 
A  genius  has  no  use  for  a  school,  except  so  far  as 
it  teaches  him  the  art  of  thinking.  If  we  run 
back  to  the  boyhood  of  Jasper  and  look  him  over 
we  find  that  he  had,  after  all,  distinct  educational 
advantages. 

It  is  another  case  of  a  good  mother.  We 
know  that  her  name  was  Nina,  and  that  she  was 
the  wife  of  Philip  Jasper,  and  if  tradition  tells 
the  truth  she  was  the  mother  of  twenty-four  chil- 
dren— a  premature  applicant  for  the  Rooseveltian 
prize.  John  was  the  last,  and  was  not  born  until 
two  months  after  his  father's  death.  Truly  grace 
as  well  as  genius  was  needed  in  his  case,  or  he 
would  have  struck  the  wrong  road. 

30 


HOW  JASPER  GOT  HIS  SCHOOLING    31 

That  mother  was  the  head  of  the  working 
women  on  the  Fluvanna  farm  and  learned  to 
govern  by  reason  of  the  position  she  held.  Her 
appointment  bespoke  her  character,  and  her  work 
improved  it.  Later  on,  she  became  in  another 
home  the  chief  of  the  servant  force  in  a  rich 
family.  It  was  quite  a  good  place.  It  brought 
her  in  contact  with  cultivated  people  and  the 
imitative  quality  in  the  negro  helped  her  to  learn 
the  manners  and  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  the  lady. 
Later  on  still,  she  became  a  nurse  to  look  after 
the  sick  at  the  Negro  Quarters.  There  she  had 
to  do  with  doctors,  medicines  and  counsellors 
and  helpers.  Add  to  all  this,  she  was  a  sober, 
thoughtful,  godly  woman,  and  you  will  quite 
soon  reach  the  conclusion  that  she  was  a  very 
excellent  teacher  for  John  ;  and  John  coming 
latest  in  the  domestic  procession  found  her  rich 
in  experience,  matured  in  motherliness,  and  en- 
larged in  her  outlook  of  life. 

John's  father  was  a  preacher.  Harsh  things, 
and  some  of  them  needlessly  false,  are  said  of  the 
fact  that  there  were  no  negro  preachers  in  the 
times  of  the  slaveholding.  It  is  true,  that  the 
laws  of  the  country  did  not  allow  independent 
organizations  of  negroes,  and  negro  preachers 
were  not  allowed,  except  by  the  consent  of  their 
masters,  to  go  abroad  preaching  the  Gospel. 
They  could  not  accept  pastoral  charges,  and  were 
hampered,  as  ail  must  admit,  by  grievous  restrio 


32  JOHN  JASPER 

tions,  but  there  were  negro  preachers  in  that  day 
just  the  same, — scores  of  them,  and  in  one  way 
and  another  they  had  many  privileges  and  did 
good  and  effective  service.  One  thing  about  the 
negro  preacher  of  the  ante  bellum  era  was  his 
high  character.  It  is  true  that  the  owner  of 
slaves  was  not  in  all  cases  adapted  to  determine 
the  moral  character  of  the  slave  who  wanted  to 
preach,  and  too  often,  it  may  be  admitted,  his 
prejudices  and  self-interest  may  have  ruled  out 
some  men  who  ought  to  have  been  allowed  to 
preach.  It  is  a  pity  if  this  were  true.  But  this 
strictness  had  one  advantage.  When  the  master 
of  a  negro  man  allowed  him  to  preach  it  was  an 
endorsement,  acceptable  and  satisfactory,  wher- 
ever the  man  went.  If  they  thought  he  was  all 
right  at  home,  he  could  pass  muster  elsewhere. 

Now,  concerning  John's  father,  tradition  has 
proved  exceedingly  partial.  It  has  glorified  Tina 
the  mother  with  fine  extravagance,  but  it  has  cut 
Philip  unmercifully.  John  could  get  little  out  of 
his  father,  for  they  were  not  contemporaries,  and 
as  his  brothers  and  sisters  seemed  to  have  been 
born  for  oblivion,  we  can  trace  little  of  his  dis- 
tinction to  the  old  household  in  Fluvanna. 

But  we  dare  say  that  Philip,  the  preacher,  re- 
membered chiefly  because  he  was  a  preacher,  had 
something  to  do  in  a  subtle  way  with  John's 
training.  Nor  must  we  fail  to  remember  that 
Jasper  himself  grew  up  in  contact  with  a  fine  old 


HOW  JASPER  GOT  HIS  SCHOOLING    33 

Virginia  family.  Fools  there  be  many  who  love 
to  talk  of  the  shattering  of  the  old  aristocracy  of 
Virginia.  The  "F.  F.  V.'s"  l  have  been  the  sport 
of  the  vulgar,  and  their  downfall  has  been  a 
tragedy  which  the  envious  greedily  turned  into  a 
comedy.  But  people  ought  to  have  some  sense. 
They  ought  to  see  things  in  their  proper  relation. 
They  ought  to  know  that  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  old  Virginia  home  the  negroes,  and  especially 
those  who  served  in  person  the  heads  of  the 
family,  caught  the  cue  of  the  gentleman  and  the 
lady.  I  can  stand  on  the  streets  of  Richmond 
to-day  and  pick  out  the  coloured  men  and  women 
who  grew  up  in  homes  of  refinement,  and  who  still 
bear  about  them  the  signs  of  it.  Bent  by  age, 
and  many  of  them  tortured  by  infirmity,  they 
still  bear  the  marks  of  their  old  masters.  They 
constitute  a  class  quite  apart  from  those  of  later 
times  and  are  unequalled  by  them.  I  rejoice  in 
all  the  comforts  and  advantages  which  have  come 
to  the  negroes, — most  heartily  I  thank  heaven 
for  their  freedom  and  for  all  that  freedom  has 
brought  them  ;  but  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
one  of  the  losses  was  that  contact  with  courtly, 
dignified,  and  royal  people  which  many  of  them 
had  before  the  Civil  War.  And  even  those  on 
the  plantations,  while  removed  farther  from  the 
lights  of  the  great  castles  in  which  their  masters 
lived,  walked  not  in  darkness  entirely,  but  un- 

1  First  Families  of  Virginia. 


34  JOHN  JASPER 

consciously  felt  the  transforming  power  of  those 
times. 

John  Jasper  was  himself  an  aristocrat.  His 
mode  of  dress,  his  manner  of  walking,  his  lofty 
dignity,  all  told  the  story.  He  received  an  aris- 
tocratic education,  and  he  never  lost  it.  Besides 
this,  he  had  a  most  varied  experience  as  a  slave. 
He  grew  up  on  the  farm,  and  knew  what  it  was 
to  be  a  plantation  hand.  He  learned  to  work  in 
the  tobacco  factory.  He  worked  also  in  the 
foundries,  and  also  served  around  the  houses  of 
the  families  with  whom  he  lived ;  for  it  must  be 
understood  that  after  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Peachy  family  he  changed  owners  and  lived  in 
different  places.  These  things  enlarged  his  scope, 
and  with  that  keen  desire  to  know  things  ht 
learned  at  every  turn  of  life. 

After  his  conversion  he  became  a  passionate 
student.  He  acknowledges  one  who  sought  to 
teach  him  to  read,  and  after  he  became  a  preacher 
he  spelled  out  the  Bible  for  himself.  He  was 
eager  to  hear  other  men  preach  and  to  talk  with 
those  who  were  wiser  than  he.  And  so  he  kept 
on  learning  as  long  as  he  lived,  though  of  course 
he  missed  the  help  of  the  schools,  and  never 
crossed  the  threshold  of  worldly  science  in  his 
pursuit  of  knowledge. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  here  that  Jasper  never 
lost  his  pride  in  white  people.  He  delighted  to 
be  with  them.  Thousands  upon  thousands  went 


HOW  JASPER  GOT  HIS  SCHOOLING    35 

to  hear  him,  and  while  there  was  a  strain  of 
curiosity  in  many  of  them  there  was  an  under-note 
of  respect  and  kindliness  which  always  thrilled 
his  heart  and  did  him  good.  Time  and  again 
he  spoke  to  me  personally  of  white  people,  and 
always  with  a  beautiful  appreciation.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  the  old  man  rode  his  high  horse 
when  his  house  was  partly  filled  with  white  peo- 
ple, and  it  would  be  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
not  since  the  end  of  the  war  has  any  negro  been 
so  much  loved  or  so  thoroughly  believed  in  as 
John  Jasper. 


IV 

THE  SLAVE   PREACHER 

IT  is  as  a  preacher  that  John  Jasper  is  most  in- 
teresting. His  personality  was  notable  and  full 
of  force  anywhere,  but  the  pulpit  was  the  stage 
of  his  chief  performance.  It  is  worth  while  to 
bear  in  mind  that  he  began  to  preach  in  1839  and 
that  was  twenty-five  years  before  the  coming  of 
freedom.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  therefore, 
he  was  a  preacher  while  yet  a  slave.  His  time, 
of  course,  under  the  law  belonged  to  his  master, 
and  under  the  laws  of  the  period,  he  could  preach 
only  under  very  serious  limitations.  He  could 
go  only  when  his  master  said  he  might,  and  he 
could  preach  only  when  some  white  minister  or 
committee  was  present  to  see  that  things  were 
conducted  in  an  orderly  way.  This  is  the  hard 
way  of  stating  the  case,  but  there  are  many  ways 
of  getting  around  such  regulations.  The  man  who 
could  preach,  though  a  negro,  rarely  failed  of  an 
opportunity  to  preach.  The  man  who  was  fit  for 
the  work  had  friends  who  enabled  him  to  "  shy 
around  "  his  limitations. 

There  was  one  thing  which  the  negro  greatly 
insisted  upon,  and  which  not  even  the  most  hard- 

36 


THE  SLAVE  PREACHER  37 

hearted  masters  were  ever  quite  willing  to  deny 
them.  They  could  never  bear  that  their  dead 
should  be  put  away  without  a  funeral.  Not  that 
they  expected,  at  the  time  of  the  burial,  to  have 
the  funeral  service.  Indeed,  they  did  not  desire 
it,  and  it  was  never  according  to  their  notions. 
A  funeral  to  them  was  a  pageant.  It  was  a 
thing  to  be  arranged  for  a  long  time  ahead. 
It  was  to  be  marked  by  the  gathering  of  the 
kindred  and  friends  from  far  and  wide.  It  was 
not  satisfactory  unless  there  was  a  vast  and  ex- 
citable crowd.  It  usually  meant  an  all-day  meet- 
ing, and  often  a  meeting  in  a  grove,  and  it 
drew  white  and  black  alike,  sometimes  almost  in 
equal  numbers.  Another  demand  in  the  case, — 
for  the  slaves  knew  how  to  make  their  demands, 
— was  that  the  negro  preacher  "  should  preach 
the  funeral,"  as  they  called  it.  In  things  like  this, 
the  wishes  of  the  slaves  generally  prevailed. 
"  The  funeral "  loomed  up  weeks  in  advance, 
and  although  marked  by  sable  garments,  mourn- 
ful manners  and  sorrowful  outcries,  it  had  about 
it  hints  of  an  elaborate  social  function  with  festive 
accompaniments.  There  was  much  staked  on, 
the  fame  of  the  officiating  brother.  He  must  be 
one  of  their  own  colour,  and  a  man  of  reputation. 
They  must  have  a  man  to  plough  up  their 
emotional  depths,  and  they  must  have  freedom 
to  indulge  in  the  extravagancies  of  their  sorrow. 
These  demonstrations  were  their  tribute  to  their 


38  JOHN  JASPER 

dead  and  were  expected  to  be  fully  adequate  to 
do  honour  to  the  family. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  Jasper's  fame  began. 
At  first,  his  tempestuous,  ungrammatical  elo- 
quence was  restricted  to  Richmond,  and  there 
it  was  hedged  in  with  many  humbling  limita- 
tions. But  gradually  the  news  concerning  this 
fiery  and  thrilling  orator  sifted  itself  into  the 
country,  and  many  invitations  came  for  him  to 
officiate  at  country  funerals. 

He  was  preeminently  a  funeral  preacher.  A 
negro  funeral  without  an  uproar,  without  shouts 
and  groans,  without  fainting  women  and  shout- 
ing men,  without  pictures  of  triumphant  death- 
beds and  the  judgment  day,  and  without  the 
gates  of  heaven  wide  open  and  the  subjects  of 
the  funeral  dressed  in  white  and  rejoicing  a  round 
the  throne  of  the  Lamb,  was  no  funeral  at  all. 
Jasper  was  a  master  from  the  outset  at  this  work. 
One  of  his  favourite  texts,  as  a  young  preacher, 
was  that  which  was  recorded  in  Revelations, 
sixth  chapter,  and  second  verse :  "  And  I  saw 
and  beheld  a  white  horse ;  and  he  that  sat  upon 
him  had  a  bow,  and  a  crown  was  given  unto 
him,  and  he  went  forth  conquering  and  to  con- 
quer." Before  the  torrent  of  his  florid  and 
spectacular  eloquence  the  people  were  swept 
down  to  the  ground,  and  sometimes  for  hours 
many  seemed  to  be  in  trances,  not  a  few  lying 
as  if  they  were  dead. 


THE  SLAVE  PREACHER  39 

Jasper's  first  visit  to  the  country  as  a  preacher 
of  which  we  have  any  account  was  to  Hanover 
.County.  A  prominent  and  wealthy  slaveholder 
had  the  custom  of  allowing  his  servants  to  have 
imposing  funerals,  when  their  kindred  and  friends 
died ;  but  those  services  were  always  conducted 
by  a  white  minister.  In  some  way  the  fame  of 
Jasper  had  penetrated  that  community,  and  one 
of  the  slaves  asked  his  master  to  let  Jasper  come 
and  attend  the  funeral.  But  to  this  the  master 
made  an  objection.  He  knew  nothing  about 
Jasper,  and  did  not  believe  that  any  negro  was 
capable  of  preaching  the  Gospel  with  good  effect. 
This  negro  was  not  discouraged  by  the  refusal 
of  the  proprietor  of  the  great  plantation  to  grant 
his  request.  He  went  out  and  collected  a 
number  of  most  trustworthy  and  influential 
negro  men  and  they  came  in  a  body  to  his 
master  and  renewed  the  plea.  They  told  him 
in  their  way  about  what  a  great  man  Jasper  was, 
how  anxious  they  were  to  hear  him,  what  a 
comfort  his  presence  would  be  to  the  afflicted 
family,  and  how  thankful  they  would  be  to  have 
their  request  honoured.  They  won  their  point 
in  part.  He  said  to  them,  as  if  yielding  reluc- 
tantly, "  very  well,  let  him  come."  They  how- 
ever had  something  more  to  say.  They  knew 
Jasper  would  need  to  have  a  good  reason  in 
order  to  get  his  master's  consent  for  him  to 
come,  and  they  knew  that  Jasper  would  not 


40  JOHN  JASPER 

come  unless  he  came  under  the  invitation  and 
protection  of  the  white  people,  and  therefore 
they  asked  the  gentleman  if  he  would  not  write 
a  letter  inviting  him  to  come.  Accordingly, 
in  a  spirit  of  compromise  and  courtesy  very 
pleasing  to  the  coloured  people,  the  letter  was 
written  and  Jasper  came. 

The  news  of  his  expected  coming  spread  like  a 
flame.  Not  only  the  country  people  in  large 
numbers,  but  quite  a  few  of  the  Richmond 
people,  made  ready  to  attend  the  great  occasion. 
Jasper  went  out  in  a  private  conveyance,  the 
distance  not  being  great,  and,  in  his  kind  wish 
to  take  along  as  many  friends  as  possible,  he 
overloaded  the  wagon  and  had  a  breakdown. 
The  delay  in  his  arrival  was  very  long  and  un- 
explained ;  but  still  the  people  lingered  and 
beguiled  the  time  with  informal  religious  serv- 
ices. 

At  length  the  Richmond  celebrity  appeared 
on  the  scene  late  in  the  day.  The  desire  to  hear 
him  was  imperative,  and  John  Jasper  was  equal 
to  the  occasion.  Late  as  the  hour  was,  and 
wearied  as  were  the  people,  he  spoke  with  over- 
mastering power.  The  owner  of  the  great 
company  of  slaves  on  that  plantation  was  among 
his  hearers,  and  he  could  not  resist  the  spell  of 
devout  eloquence  which  poured  from  the  lips  of 
the  unscholared  Jasper.  It  was  a  sermon  from 
the  heart,  full  of  personal  passion  and  hot  with 


THE  SLAVE  PREACHER  41 

gospel  fervour,  and  the  heart  of  the  lord  of  the 
plantation  was  powerfully  moved.  He  under- 
took to  engage  Jasper  to  preach  on  the  succeed- 
ing Sunday  and  handed  the  blushing  preacher 
quite  a  substantial  monetary  token  of  his  appre- 
ciation. 

The  day  was  accounted  memorable  by  reason 
of  the  impression  which  Jasper  made.  Indeed, 
Jasper  was  a  master  of  assemblies.  No  poli- 
tician could  handle  a  crowd  with  more  con- 
summate tact  than  he.  He  was  the  king  of 
hearts  and  could  sway  throngs  as  the  wind  shakes 
the  trees. 

There  is  a  facetious  story  abroad  among  the 
negroes  that  in  those  days  Jasper  went  to  Farm- 
ville  to  officiate  on  a  funeral  occasion  where 
quite  a  number  of  the  dead  were  to  have  their 
virtues  commemorated  and  where  their  "  mourn- 
ing friends,"  as  Jasper  in  time  came  to  call  them, 
were  to  be  comforted.  The  news  that  Jasper 
was  to  be  there  went  out  on  the  wings  of  the 
wind  and  vast  throngs  attended.  Of  course,  a 
white  minister  was  present  and  understood  that 
he  was  the  master  of  ceremonies.  The  story  is, 
that  he  felt  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  entrust  an 
occasion  so  vastly  interesting  to  the  hands  of 
Jasper,  and  he  decided  that  he  would  quiet  Jas- 
per and  satisfy  the  public  demands  by  calling  on 
Jasper  to  pray.  As  a  fact,  Jasper  was  about  as 
much  of  an  orator  in  speaking  to  heaven  as  he 


42  JOHN  JASPER 

was  in  speaking  to  mortal  men.  His  prayer 
had  such  contagious  and  irresistible  eloquence 
that  whatever  the  Lord  did  about  it,  it  surely 
brought  quite  a  resistless  response  from  the 
crowd.  When  the  white  preacher  ended  his 
tame  and  sapless  address,  the  multitude  cried 
out  for  Jasper.  Inspired  by  the  occasion  and 
emboldened  by  the  evident  disposition  to  shut 
him  out,  Jasper  took  fire  and  on  eagle  wings  he 
mounted  into  the  heavens  and  gave  such  a 
brilliant  and  captivating  address  that  the  vast 
crowd  went  wild  with  joy  and  enthusiasm. 

There  is  yet  another  story  of  a  time  when  Jas- 
per was  called  into  the  country  where  he  and  a 
white  minister  were  to  take  part  in  one  of  the 
combined  funerals  so  common  at  that  time. 
Upon  arriving  at  the  church  the  white  minister 
was  unutterably  shocked  to  find  that  his  associate 
in  the  services  was  a  negro.  That  was  too  much 
for  him,  and  he  decided  on  the  spot  that  if  he 
went  in,  Jasper  would  have  to  stay  out,  and  he 
decided  that  he  would  go  in  and  would  stay  in 
until  the  time  was  over  and  leave  Jasper  to  his 
reflections  on  the  outside.  For  two  hours  the 
white  brother  beat  the  air,  killed  time,  and  quite 
wearied  the  crowd  by  his  lumbering  and  tire- 
some discourse.  After  he  had  arrived  at  the 
point  where  it  seemed  that  no  more  could  be 
said,  the  exhausted  and  exhausting  brother 
closed  his  sermon  and  was  arranging  to  end 


THE  SLAVE  PREACHER  43 

the  service.  But  the  people  would  not  have  it 
so.  Tumultuously  they  cried  out  for  Jasper, — a 
cry  in  which  the  whites  outdid  the  blacks.  It 
was  not  in  Jasper  to  ignore  such  appreciation.  Of 
all  men,  he  had  the  least  desire  or  idea  of  being 
snubbed  or  side-tracked.  With  that  mischievous 
smile  which  was  born  of  the  jubilant  courage  of 
his  soul,  Jasper  came  forth.  He  knew  well  the 
boundaries  of  his  rights,  and  needed  no  danger 
signals  to  warn  him  off  hostile  ground.  For 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  he  poured  forth  a  tor- 
rent of  passionate  oratory, — not  empty  and 
frivolous  words,  but  a  message  rich  with  comfort 
and  help,  and  uttered  only  as  he  could  utter  it. 
The  effect  was  electrical.  The  white  people 
crowded  around  him  to  congratulate  and  thank 
him,  and  went  away  telling  the  story  of  his 
greatness. 

Tradition  has  failed  to  give  us  the  name  of  the 
ill-fated  brother  who  in  seeking  to  kill  time, 
seemed  to  have  got  knocked  into  oblivion.  It  is 
worth  while  to  say  that  the  white  ministers  were 
within  the  law  in  attending  occasions  like  those 
described  above  and  felt  the  necessity  of  care  and 
discretion  in  managing  the  exercises,  lest  the 
hostilities  of  irreligious  people  should  be  excited 
against  the  negroes.  It  is  due  to  the  white  peo- 
ple, and  especially  to  that  denomination  to  which 
John  Jasper  was  associated,  to  say  that  under 
their  influence  the  negroes,  who  were  practically 


44  JOHN  JASPER 

barbarians  when  they  were  brought  into  the 
South,  were  civilized  and  Christianized.  A  large 
proportion  of  them  were  well-mannered  and 
nobly-behaved  Christians  at  the  time  their  slavery 
ended.  The  church  buildings  were  always  con- 
structed so  that  the  white  people  and  the  negroes 
could  worship  in  the  same  house.  They  were 
baptized  by  the  same  minister,  they  sat  down 
together  at  the  communion  table,  they  heard  the 
same  sermons,  sang  the  same  songs,  were  con- 
verted at  the  same  meetings,  and  were  baptized 
at  the  same  time.  Ofttimes,  and  in  almost  all 
places,  they  were  allowed  to  have  services  to 
themselves.  In  this,  of  course,  they  enjoyed  a 
larger  freedom  than  when  they  met  in  the  same 
house  with  the  white  people. 

They  know  little  of  the  facts  who  imagine  that 
there  was  estrangement  and  alienation  between 
the  negroes  and  the  whites  in  the  matter  of  re- 
ligion. Far  from  it.  There  was  much  of  good 
fellowship  between  the  whites  and  negroes  in  the 
churches,  and  the  white  ministers  took  notable 
interest  in  the  religious  welfare  of  the  slaves. 
They  often  visited  them  pastorally  and  gladly 
talked  with  them  about  their  salvation.  These 
chapters  are  not  intended  either  to  defend  or  to 
condemn  slavery;  but  in  picturing  the  condition 
of  things  which  encompassed  Jasper  during  the 
days  of  slavery,  it  is  worth  while  to  let  it  be 
understood  that  it  was  during  their  bondage 


THE  SLAVE  PREACHER  45 

and  under  the  Christian  influence  of  Southern 
people,  that  the  negroes  of  the  South  were  made 
a  Christian  people.  It  was  the  best  piece  of 
missionary  work  ever  yet  done  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

Another  fact  should  be  referred  to  here. 
Jasper  was  a  pastor  in  the  City  of  Petersburg 
even  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War. 
He  had  charge  of  one  of  the  less  prominent 
negro  churches  and  went  over  from  Richmond 
for  two  Sundays  in  each  month.  This,  of  course, 
showed  the  enlargement  of  his  liberty,  that  he 
could  take  the  time  to  leave  the  city  so  often 
in  pursuance  of  his  ministerial  work. 

It  need  hardly  be  mentioned  that  his  presence 
in  Petersburg  brought  unusual  agitation.  He 
fairly  depopulated  the  other  negro  churches  and 
drew  crowds  that  could  not  be  accommodated. 
When  it  was  rumoured  that  Jasper  was  to  preach 
for  the  first  time  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Keene,  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and 
many  other  white  people  attended.  They  were 
much  concerned  lest  his  coming  should  produce 
a  disturbance,  and  they  went  with  the  idea  of 
preventing  any  undue  excitement.  Jasper,  flam- 
ing with  fervid  zeal  and  exhilarated  with  the 
freedom  of  the  truth,  carried  everything  before 
him.  He  had  not  preached  long  before  the  critical 
white  people  were  stirred  to  the  depths  of  their 
souls  and  their  emotion  showed  in  their  weeping. 


46  JOHN  JASPER 

They  beheld  and  felt  the  wonderful  power  of  the 
man.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Keene  was  completely 
captivated,  and  recognized  in  Jasper  a  man  whom 
God  had  called. 


"WHAR  SIN  KUM   FRUM?" 

MY  first  sight  of  Jasper  must  always  remain 
in  the  chapter  of  unforgotten  things.  The  oc- 
casion was  Sunday  afternoon,  and  the  crowd  was 
overflowing.  Let  me  add  that  it  was  one  of  his 
days  of  spiritual  intoxication,  and  he  played  on 
every  key  in  the  gamut  of  the  human  soul. 

Two  questions  had  been  shot  at  him,  and  they 
both  took  effect.  The  first  had  to  do  with  creation. 
For  a  half  hour  he  pounded  away  on  the  creator- 
ship  of  God.  His  address  was  very  strong  and 
had  in  it  both  argument  and  eloquence.  He 
marshalled  the  Scriptures  with  consummate 
skill,  and  built  an  argument  easily  understood 
by  the  rudest  of  his  hearers  ;  and  yet  so  com- 
pact and  tactful  was  he,  that  his  most  cultured 
hearers  bent  beneath  his  force. 

But  the  second  question  brought  on  the  pyro- 
technics. It  had  to  do  with  the  origin  of  sin, — > 
"  Whar  sin  kum  frum  ?  " — as  he  cogently  put  it. 
It  was  here  that  a  riotous  liberty  possessed  himt 
and  he  preached  with  every  faculty  of  his  mind, 
with  every  passion  and  sentiment  of  his  soul,  with 
every  nerve,  every  muscle,  and  every  feature 

47 


48  JOHN  JASPER 

of  his  body.  For  nearly  an  hour  the  air  cracked 
with  excitement  and  the  crowd  melted  beneath 
his  spell.  It  was  my  first  experience  of  that 
unusual  power  of  his  to  move  people  in  all  pos- 
sible ways  by  a  single  effort. 

Jasper  knew  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Bible  admirably,  and  always  lived  in  vital  con- 
tact with  their  essence.  There  was  a  kinship 
between  the  Bible  and  himself,  and,  untaught 
of  the  schools,  he  studied  himself  in  the  light 
of  the  Bible  and  studied  the  Bible  in  the  dark- 
ness of  himself.  This  kept  him  in  contact  with 
people  and  whenever  he  preached  he  invaded 
their  experience  and  made  conscious  their  wants 
to  themselves.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that 
questions  which  perplexed  them  they  had  the 
habit  of  bringing  to  him.  This  question  as  to 
the  origin  of  sin  had  been  spurring  and  nagging 
some  of  his  speculative  hearers.  They  had 
wrangled  over  it,  and  they  unloaded  their  per- 
plexity upon  him.  So  it  was  with  this  burden 
heavy  upon  him  that  he  came  to  the  pulpit  on 
this  occasion. 

It  may  have  been  a  touch  of  his  dramatic  art, 
but  at  any  rate  he  showed  an  amiable  irritation, 
in  view  of  his  being  under  constant  fire  from  his 
controversial  church-members,  and  so  he  started 
in  as  if  he  had  a  grievance.  It  gave  pith  and 
excitement  to  his  bearing,  as  he  faced  the  issue 
thus  thrust  upon  him.  As  a  fact,  he  knew  that 


"WHAR  SIN  KUM  FRUM?"  49 

many  inquirers  sought  to  entangle  him  by  their 
questions  and  this  opened  the  way  for  his  say- 
ing, with  cutting  effect,  that  they  would  do  better 
to  inquire,  "  whar  sin  wuz  gwine  ter  kerry  'em, 
instid  uv  whar  it  kum  frum." 

"  An'  yer  wants  ter  know  whar  sin  kum  frum, 
yer  say.  Why  shud  yer  be  broozin'  eroun'  wid 
sich  a  questun  as  dat  ?  Dar  ain'  but  wun  place 
in  de  univus  uv  Gord  whar  yer  kin  git  any  in- 
fermashun  on  dis  pint,  and  dar,  I  am  free  ter  tel 
yer,  yer  kin  git  all  dat  yer  wish  ter  know,  an' 
maybe  a  good  deal  mo'.  De  place  whar  de 
nollidge  yer  need  kin  be  got  iz  in  de  Word  uv 
Gord.  I  knows  wat  sum  dat  hav'  bin  talkin* 
'bout  dis  thing  iz  arter.  I  know  de  side  uv  de 
questun  dey  iz  struttin'  up  on.  Dey  say,  or  dey 
kinder  hint,  dat  de  Lord  Gord  iz  de  orthur  uv 
sin.  Dat's  wat  dey  iz  wispurrin*  roun'  dis  town. 
Dey  can't  fool  Jasper ;  but  I  tell  you  de  debbul 
iz  playin'  pranks  on  um  an'  will  drag  um  down 
ter  de  pit  uv  hell,  ef  dey.doan  luk  out  mity 
quick.  De  Lord  Gord  know'd  frum  de  beginnin' 
dat  sum  uv  dese  debbullish  people  wud  bring 
up  dis  very  charge  an'  say  dat  He  had  tendid 
dat  dar  shud  be  sin  frum  de  beginnin'.  He  done 
speak  His  mind  'bout  dat  thing,  an'  ef  yer  luk  in 
de  fust  chaptur  uv  Jeems  yer'll  find  de  solum 
uttrunce  on  dis  subjik  an'  it  kleers  Gord  furevur 
frum  dis  base  slandur.  *  Let  no  man  say,'  says 
de  Lord,  '  wen  he  is  temptid  dat  he  is  temptid 


50  JOHN  JASPER 

uv  Gord,  fur  Gord  kin  not  be  temptid  uv  any 
man,  an'  neethur  tempts  He  any  man.'  Did  yer 
hear  dat?  Dat's  de  Lord's  own  wurds.  It 
spressly  says  dat  people  will  be  temptid, — every- 
body is  temptid ;  I  bin  havin'  my  temptashuns  all 
my  life,  an'  I  haz  um  yit,  a  heap  uv  um,  an'  sum 
uv  um  awful  bad,  but  yer  ain'  ketchin'  Jasper  er 
sayin'  dat  Gord  is  at  de  bottum  uv  um.  Ef  I 
shud  say  it,  it  wud  be  a  lie,  an'  all  iz  liars  wen 
dey  say  dat  Gord  tempts  um?  De  sinnur  is 
gettin'  towurds  de  wust  wen  he  iz  willin'  ter  lay 
de  blame  uv  hiz  sins  on  de  Lord.  Do  it  ef  yer 
will,  but  de  cuss  uv  Gord  will  be  erpun  yez  wen 
yer  try  ter  mek  de  Lord  Gord  sich  es  you  iz  ;  an' 
ter  mek  b'liev  dat  de  Lord  gits  orf  His  throne 
an'  kums  down  in  ter  mire  an'  clay  uv  your 
wicked  life  an'  tries  ter  jog  an'  ter  fool  yer  inter 
sin.  I  trimbul  ter  think  uv  sich  a  thing!  I 
wonder  dat  de  Lord  duzn't  forge  new  thunder- 
bolts uv  Hiz  rath  an'  crush  de  heds  uv  dem  dat 
charge  'im  wid  de  folly  uv  human  sin. 

"Sum  uv  yer  wud  be  mity  glad  ter  git  Gord 
mix'd  up  in  yer  sins  an'  ter  feel  dat  He  iz  es  bad 
es  you  iz.  It  jes'  shows  how  base,  how  lost, 
how  ded,  you'se  bekum.  Wudn't  we  hev  a 
pritty  Gord  ef  He  wuz  willin'  ter  git  out  in  de 
nite  an'  go  plungin'  down  inter  de  horribul  an' 
minus  transgresshuns  in  wich  sum  men  indulg'. 
Let  me  kleer  dis  thing  up  befo'  I  quit  it.  Bar  in 
mine,  dat  Gord  kin  not  be  temptid  uv  any  man. 


"WHAR  SIN  KUM  FRUM?"  51 

Try  it  ef  yer  chuze,  an'  He  will  fling  yer  in  ter  de 
lowes'  hell,  an'  don't  yer  dar  evur  ter  say,  or  ter 
think,  or  ter  hope,  dat  de  temtashun  ter  du  rong 
things  kum  ter  yer  from  Gord.  It  do  not  kum 
frum  erbuv,  but  it  kum  out  uv  your  foul  an'  sinful 
hart.  Dey  iz  born  dar,  born  uv  your  bad 
thoughts,  born  uv  your  hell-born  lusts,  an'  dey 
gits  strong  in  yer  'caus'  yer  don't  strangul  um  at 
de  start. 

"Butwhyshud  dar  be  trubble'bout  dis  subjic? 
Wat  duz  de  Bibul  say  on  dis  here  mattur  'bout 
whar  sin  kum  frum  ?  We  kin  git  de  troof  out  uv 
dat  buk,  fur  it  kuntains  de  Wurd  uv  Gord.  Our 
Gord  kin  not  lie ;  He  nevur  hav'  lied  frum  de 
foundashun  uv  de  wurF.  He  iz  de  troof  an'  de 
life  an'  He  nevur  lies. 

"  Now,  wat  do  He  say  kunsarnin'  dis  serus 
questun  dat  is  plowin'  de  souls  uv  sum  uv  my 
brudderin.  Ter  de  Bibul,  ter  de  Bibul,  we'll  go 
an'  wat  do  we  git  wen  we  git  dar  ?  De  Bibul 
say  dat  Eve  wuz  obur  dar  in  de  gardin  uv  Edun 
one  day  an'  dat  she  wuz  dar  by  hersef.  De  Lord 
med  Eve,  'caus'  it  worn't  gud  fer  Adum  ter  be 
erloan,  an'  it  luks  frum  dis  kase  dat  it  wuz  not 
quite  safe  fer  Eve  ter  be  lef  at  home  by  hersef. 
But  Adum  worn't  wid  her ;  doan  know  whar  he 
wuz, — gorn  bogin'  orf  sumwhars.  He  better  bin 
at  home  tendin'  ter  his  fambly.  Dat  ain'  de  only 
time,  by  a  long  shot,  dat  dar  haz  bin  de  debbul 
ter  pay  at  home  wen  de  man  hev  gorn  gaddin' 


52  JOHN  JASPER 

eroun',  instid  uv  stayin'  at  home  an'  lookin'  arter 
hiz  fambly. 

"  While  Eve  wuz  sauntrin'  an'  roamin'  eroun'  in 
de  buterful  gardin,  de  ole  sarpint,  dyked  up  ter 
kill,  karri  gallervantin'  down  de  road  an'  he 
kotch'd  site  uv  Eve  an'  luk  lik  he  surpriz'd  very 
much  but  not  sorry  in  de  leas'.  Now  yer  mus' 
kno'  dat  ole  sarpint  wuz  de  trickles'  an'  de  arties' 
uv  all  de  beas'  uv  de  feiF, — de  ole  debbul,  dat's 
wat  he  wuz.  An'  wat  he  do  but  go  struttin'  up 
ter  Eve  in  a  mity  frien'ly  way,  scrapin'  an'  bo  win' 
lik  a  fool  ded  in  luv. 

"  '  How  yer  do  ? '  He  tries  ter  be  perlite,  an* 
puts  on  hiz  sweetes'  airs.  Oh,  dat  wuz  an  orful 
momint  in  de  life  uv  Eve  an'  in  de  histurry  uv 
dis  po'  los'  wurl  uv  ours.  In  dat  momint  de 
pizun  eat  thru  her  flesh,  struk  in  her  blud,  an' 
went  ter  her  hart.  At  fust  she  wuz  kinder 
shame' ;  but  she  wuz  kinder  loansum,  an'  she 
wuz  pleas' d  an'  tickl'd  ter  git  notic'd  in  dat  way 
an'  so  she  stay'd  dar  instid  uv  runnin'  fer  her 
life. 

"  '  Ve'y  wel,  I  thanks  yer,'  she  say  ertremblin', 
'  how  iz  you  dis  mornin'  ?  '  De  sarpint  farly 
shouts  wid  joy.  He  dun  got  her  tenshun  an'  she 
lek  ter  hear  'im,  an'  he  feel  he  got  hiz  chanz  an' 
so  goes  on : 

" '  Nice  gardin  yer  got  dar/  he  say  in  er  ad- 
mirin'  way.  '  Yer  got  heap  uv  nice  appuls  obur 
dar.' 


«WHAR  SIN  KUM  FRUM?"  53 

" '  Oh,  yes,  indeed,'  Eve  replies.  '  We  got 
lots  uv  um.' 

"  Eve  spoke  dese  wurds  lik  she  wuz  proud  ter 
deth  'caus'  de  sarpint  lik  de  gardin.  Dar  stood 
de  sarpint  ve'y  quiut  tel,  suddin  lek,  he  juk  eroun' 
an'  he  says  ter  Eve  :  — 

" '  Kin  yer  eat  all  de  appuls  yer  got  obur  dar  ? ' 

" '  No,  hindeed,'  says  Eve,  '  we  can't  eat  um 
all.  We  got  moar'n  we  kin  'stroy  save  our  lives. 
Dey  gittin'  ripe  all  de  time ;  we  hev  jus'  hogshids 
uv  um.' 

" '  Oh,  I  didn't  mean  dat,'  spoke  de  sarpint,  es 
ef  shock'd  by  not  bein'  understud.  '  My  p'int  iz, 
iz  yer  'low'd  ter  eat  um  all  ?  Dat's  wat  I  want  ter 
know.  As  ter  yer  laws  an'  rites  in  de  gardin, 
duz  dey  all  sute  yer  ? ' 

"  Per  a  minnit  de  'oman  jump'd  same  es  if  sum- 
budy  struk  her  a  blow.  De  col'  chils  run  down 
her  bak,  an'  she  luk  lik  she  wan  ter  run,  but 
sumhow  de  eye  uv  de  sarpint  dun  got  a  charm 
on  her.  Dar  wuz  a  struggul,  er  reglur  Bull  Run 
battul,  gwine  on  in  her  soul  at  dat  momint. 

" '  Wat  yer  ax  me  dat  questun  fur  ? '  Eve  axed, 
gaspin'  w'ile  she  spoke.  Den  de  debbul  luk  off. 
He  tri  ter  be  kam  an'  ter  speak  lo  an'  kine,  but 
dar  wuz  a  glar'  in  hiz  eyes.  '  I  begs  many  par- 
duns,'  he  says,  'skuse  me,  I  did  not  mean  ter 
meddul  wid  yer  privit  buzniz.  I'd  bettur  skuse 
mysef,  I  reckin,  and  try  an'  git  erlong.' 

"  '  No  ;  doan  go,'  Eve  sed.    '  Yer  havn't  hurt 


54  JOHN  JASPER 

my  feelin's.  Wat  yer  say  jes'  put  new  thoughts 
in  my  min'  an'  kinder  shuk  me  up  at  fust.  But 
I  doan  min'  talkinV 

" '  Ef  dat  be  de  kase,'  speaks  up  de  debbul, 
quite  brave-lek,  '  begs  you  skuse  me  ter  ask  agin 
ef  de  rules  uv  de  gardin  'lows  yer  ter  eat  any  uv 
dem  appuls  yer  got  in  de  gardin?  I  haz  my 
reasuns  fer  axin'  dis.' 

"  Eve  stud  darshivurrin'  lik  she  freezin'  an'  pale 
es  de  marbul  toomstoan.  But  arter  a  gud  wile 
she  pint  her  han  obur  to  er  tree,  on  de  hill  on  de 
rite,  an'  she  tel  'im,  es  ef  she  wuz  mity  'fraid,  dat 
dar  wuz  a  tree  obur  dar  uv  de  Nollidge  an'  uv  de 
Deestinxshun,  an'  she  say,  '  De  Lord  Gord  He 
tel  us  we  mus'  not  eat  dem  appuls ;  dey  pisun  us, 
an'  de  day  we  eat  um  we  got  to  die.' 

"  Oh,  my  brudderin,  worn't  times  mity  serus  den  ? 
'Twuz  de  hour  wen  de  powurs  uv  darknis  wuz  git- 
tin'  in  an'  de  foundashuns  uv  human  hopes  wuz 
givin'  way.  Den  it  wuz  he  git  up  close  ter  Eve 
an'  wispur  in  her  ear :  — 

'"Did  de  Lord  Gord  tel  yer  dat?  Doan  tel 
nobody,  but  I  wan'  ter  tel  yer  dat  it  ain't  so. 
Doan  yer  b'liev  it.  Doan  let  'im  fool  yer  !  He 
know  dat's  de  bes'  fruit  in  all  de  gardin, — de  fruit 
uv  de  Nollidge  an'  de  Deestinxshun,  an'  dat  wen 
yer  eats  it  yer  will  know  es  much  es  He  do.  Yer 
reckin  He  wants  yer  ter  know  es  much  es  He  do  ? 
Na-a-w  ;  an'  dat's  why  He  say  wat  He  do  say. 
Vou  go  git  um.  Dey's  de  choysis'  fruit  in  de 


"WHAR,  SIN  KUM  FKUM?"  55 

gardin,  an'  wen  yer  eats  um  yer  will  be  equ'ul 
ter  Gord.' 

"  Erlas,  erlas !  po'  deluded  an'  foolish  Eve  !  It 
wuz  de  momint  uv  her  evurlastin'  downfall. 
Clouds  uv  darknis  shrouds  her  min'  an'  de  ebul 
sperrit  leap  inter  her  soul  an'  locks  de  do'  behin' 
him.  Dat  dedly  day  she  bruk  'way  frum  de 
Gord  dat  made  her,  Eve  did,  an*  purtuk  uv  de 
fruit  dat  brought  sin  an'  ruin  an'  hell  inter  de 
wurl'." 

"  Po'  foolish  Eve  1  In  dat  momunt  darknis  fils 
her  min',  evul  leaps  in  ter  er  heart,  an'  she  pluck 
de  appul,  bruk  de  kumman  uv  Gord,  and  ate  de 
fatul  fruit  wat  brought  death  ter  all  our  race. 

"  Artur  er  wile,  Adum  kum  walkin'  up  de  gar- 
din  and  Eve  she  runs  out  ter  meet  'im.  Wen  he 
kum  near  she  hoi*  up  er  appul  in  her  han'  and 
tell  him  it  iz  gud  ter  eat.  Oh,  blin'  and  silly 
womun !  First  deceived  herself,  she  turn  roun' 
and  deceives  Adum.  Dat's  de  way ;  we  gits 
wrong,  an'  den  we  pulls  udder  folks  down  wid 
us.  We  rarly  goes  down  by  oursefs. 

"But  whar  wuz  de  rong?  Whar,  indeed?  It 
wuz  in  Eve's  believin'  de  debbul  and  not  believin' 
Gord.  It  wuz  doin*  wat  de  debbul  sed  an'  not 
doin'  wat  Gord  sed.  An'  yer  kum  here  and  ax 
me  whar  sin  kum  frum !  Yer  see  now,  doan'  sher? 
It  kum  out  uv  de  pit  uv  hell  whar  it  wuz  hatched 
'mong  de  ainjuls  dat  wuz  flung  out  uv  heav'n 
'caus  dey  disurbeyd  Gord.  It  kum  from  dat  land 


56  JOHH  JASPER 

whar  de  name  uv  our  Gord  is  hated.  It  wuz 
brought  by  dat  ole  sarpint,  de  fathur  uv  lies,  and 
he  brung  it  dat  he  mite  fool  de  woman,  an'  in 
dat  way  sot  up  on  de  urth  de  wurks  uv  de  deb- 
bul.  Sin  iz  de  black  chile  uv  de  pit,  it  is.  It 
kum  frum  de  ole  sarpint  at  fust,  but  it's  here 
now,  rite  in  po'  Jasper's  hart  and  in  your  harf ; 
wharevur  dar  iz  a  man  or  a  woman  in  dis  dark 
wurF  in  tears  dar  iz  sin, — sin  dat  insults  Gord, 
tars  down  His  law,  and  brings  woes  ter  evrybody. 

"An'  you,  stung  by  de  sarpint,  wid  Gord's 
rath  on  yer  and  yer  feet  in  de  paf  uv  deth,  axin' 
whar  sin  kum  frum  ?  Yer  bettur  fly  de  rath  uv 
de  judgmint  day. 

"  But  dis  iz  ernuff.  I  jes'  tuk  time  ter  tell  whar 
sin  kum  frum.  But  my  tong  carnt  refuse  ter  stop 
ter  tel  yer  dat  de  blud  uv  de  Lam'  slain  frum  de 
foundashun  uv  de  wurl'  is  grettur  dan  sin  and 
mitier  dan  hell.  It  kin  wash  erway  our  sins,  mek 
us  whitur  dan  de  drivin  snow,  dress  us  in  redem- 
shun  robes,  bring  us  wid  shouts  and  allerluejurs 
bak  ter  dat  fellership  wid  our  Fathur,  dat  kin 
nevur  be  brokin  long  ez  'ternity  rolls." 

This  outbreak  of  fiery  eloquence  was  not  the 
event  of  the  afternoon,  but  simply  an  incident 
It  came  towards  the  end  of  the  service,  and  its 
delivery  took  not  much  more  time  than  is  re- 
quired to  read  this  record  of  it.  His  language 
was  perhaps  never  more  broken ;  but  what  he 
said  flamed  with  terrific  light.  While  there  were 


"WHAR  SIN  KUM  FRUM?"  57 

touches  of  humour  in  his  description  of  the  scene 
in  the  Garden,  his  message  gathered  a  serious- 
ness and  solemnity  which  became  simply  over- 
powering. No  words  can  describe  the  crushing 
and  alarming  effect  which  his  weird  story  of  the 
entrance  of  sin  into  the  world  had  upon  his  audi- 
ence. Men  sobbed  and  fell  to  the  floor  in  abject 
shame,  and  frightened  cries  for  mercy  rang  wild 
through  the  church.  Possibly  never  a  sweeter 
gospel  note  sounded  than  that  closing  reference 
which  he  made  to  the  cleansing  power  of  the 
blood  shed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

There  were  many  white  persons  present,  and 
they  went  away  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  great- 
ness and  power  of  the  Gospel. 


VI 

JASPER  SET  FREE 

JASPER  came  to  the  verge  of  his  greatness  after 
he  had  passed  the  half  century  line.  Freedom 
had  come  and  to  him  brought  nothing  except 
the  opportunity  to  carve  out  his  own  fortune. 
His  ministry  had  been  migratory,  restricted  and 
chiefly  of  ungathered  fruit.  He  found  himself  in 
Richmond  without  money  and  without  a  home. 
By  daily  toil  he  was  picking  up  his  bread.  He 
was  dead  set  on  doing  something  in  the  way  he 
wanted  to  do  it.  He  was  of  the  constructive 
sort,  and  never  had  done  well  when  building  on 
another  man's  foundation. 

His  ambition  was  to  build  a  church.  Down 
on  the  James  River,  where  the  big  furnaces  were 
run,  there  was  a  little  island,  and  on  the  island  a 
little  house,  and  scattered  along  the  canal  and 
river  were  many  of  the  newly  liberated  and  un- 
cared  for  people  of  his  race. 

He  began  to  hold  religious  services  on  the 
island, — said  by  some  to  have  been  held  in  a 
private  house,  and  by  others  in  a  deserted  stable, 
which  was  fitted  up  to  accommodate  the  increas- 
ing crowds.  Things  went  well  with  him.  The 
joy  of  building  flamed  his  soul,  and  beneath  the  tide 

58 


THE  SIXTH  MOUNT  ZION  CHURCH 


JASPER  SET  FREE  59 

of  the  river  he  baptized  many  converts.  Happy 
days  they  were!  The  people  were  wild  with 
enthusiasm,  and  the  shouts  of  his  congregation 
mingled  with  the  noise  of  the  James  River  Falls. 
It  was  to  Jasper  as  the  gate  of  heaven,  and  he 
walked  as  the  King's  ambassador  among  his  ad- 
miring flock. 

But  it  could  not  be  that  way  long.  There  was 
not  room  enough  to  contain  the  people,  and  yet 
the  church  was  poverty  itself,  and  what  could 
they  do  ?  Happily  they  found  a  deserted  build- 
ing beyond  the  canal  and  accessible  to  the  grow- 
ing company  of  his  lovers  in  the  city.  There 
things  went  with  a  snap  and  a  roar.  From  every 
quarter  the  people  came  to  hear  this  African 
Boanerges.  The  crowds  and  songs  and  riotous 
shouts  of  his  young  church  filled  the  neighbour- 
hood. Constant  processions,  with  Jasper  at  the 
head,  visited  the  river  or  canal,  to  give  baptism 
to  the  multiplying  converts. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  northern  part  of  the 
city  was  fast  becoming  the  Africa  of  Richmond. 
Into  its  meaner  outskirts  at  first  the  tide  began 
to  roll,  but  in  a  little  while  the  white  people  be- 
gan to  retreat,  street  after  street,  until  a  vast  area 
was  given  up  to  the  coloured  people.  Jasper's 
people,  also,  as  they  prospered,  began  to  settle 
in  this  new  Africa,  and  Jasper  found  once  more 
that  he  was  simply  dwelling  in  tents,  when  the 
time  was  coming  for  the  building  of  the  temple. 


60  JOHN  JASPER 

Jasper  was  on  the  outlook  for  a  new  location. 
Finally  he  hit  upon  an  old  brick  church  building, 
at  the  corner  of  Duval  and  St.  John  Streets.  The 
Presbyterians,  who  had  started  this  mission  years 
before,  had  despaired  of  success  under  the 
changed  conditions  and  they  offered  the  house 
for  sale,  the  price  being  $2,025.  The  sense  of 
growth  and  progress  fairly  maddened  this  unique 
and  fascinating  preacher  with  enthusiasm.  He 
had  found  a  home  for  his  people  at  last,  and  yet, 
in  point  of  fact,  he  had  not.  The  house  was  a 
magnificent  gain  on  their  old  quarters,  and  yet 
every  Sunday  afternoon  found  most  of  his  crowd 
on  the  outside.  Quite  soon  his  people  had  to 
enlarge  and  remodel  the  house,  and  this  they  did 
at  a  cost  of  $6,000.  By  that  time  the  member- 
ship was  well  on  towards  2,000.  There  they 
dwelt  for  a  number  of  years  until  the  church  be- 
came the  centre  of  the  religious  life  in  that  part 
of  the  town.  "  John  Jasper,"  as  he  was  univer- 
sally called,  had  easily  become  the  most  attrac- 
tive and  popular  minister  of  his  race  in  the  city. 
By  this  time  he  was  over  sixty  years  of  age,  and 
it  would  have  taken  much  to  have  quenched  the 
yet  unwasted  buoyancy  and  vitality  of  his  min- 
istry. Necessity  demanded  another  building, 
and  in  the  later  prime  of  his  kingly  manhood, 
and  very  largely  by  his  personal  forcefulness  and 
intrepid  leadership,  he  led  a  movement  for  a 
house  of  worship  that  would  be  respectable  in  al- 


JASPER  SET  FEEE  61 

most  any  part  of  Richmond.  What  was  more 
';o  his  purpose,  it  was  very  capacious,  wisely 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  his  people  and  a  fitting 
monument  to  his  constructive  resource  and 
enthusiasm.  It  is  said  that  he,  out  of  his  own 
slender  resources,  gave  $3,000  to  the  building 
fund,  and  this  was  probably  in  addition  to  great 
sums  of  money  given  him  by  white  people  who 
went  to  hear  him  preach  and  who  delighted  to 
honour  and  cheer  the  old  man.  I  suppose  that 
thousands  of  dollars  were  given  him  from  no  mo- 
tive save  that  of  kindness  towards  him,  and  the 
donours  would  just  as  soon  have  given  the 
money  directly  to  him  and  for  his  own  use.  They 
helped  to  build  the  church  simply  to  please  the 
old  man  whose  eloquence  and  honesty  had  won 
their  hearts.  His  love  for  his  church  amounted 
to  devotion.  He  had  seen  it  grow  from  the 
most  insignificant  beginning,  had  watched  the 
tottering  steps  of  its  childhood,  and  with  pride 
natural  and  affectionate  had  gloried  in  its  pros- 
perity. 

But  be  it  said  to  the  old  man's  honour  that  he 
was  too  great  to  be  conceited.  He  had  no  sense 
of  boastfulness  or  self-glorification  about  the 
church.  He  had  the  frankness  to  tell  the  truth 
about  things  when  it  was  necessary,  but  he  had 
too  much  manly  modesty  to  claim  distinction  for 
the  part  he  had  borne  in  the  building  up  of  the 
church.  Indeed,  he  was  strangely  silent  about 


62  JOHN  JASPER 

his  relations  with  the  church,  and  his  dominant 
feeling  was  one  of  affectionate  solicitude  for  the 
future  of  the  church  rather  than  of  self-satisfaction 
on  account  of  its  history. 

There  was  a  strain  of  severity  in  Jasper.  He 
had  some  of  the  temper  of  the  reformer.  He 
was  quick, — often  too  quick — in  condemning 
those  who  criticised  him.  The  fact  is,  he  was  so 
unfeignedly  honest  that  he  could  not  be  patient 
towards  those  whose  sincerity  or  honesty  he 
doubted.  For  those  who  plotted  against  the 
church  or  gave  trouble  in  other  ways  he  had 
little  charity.  Those  that  would  not  work  in 
harness,  and  help  to  move  things  along,  he  was 
quite  willing  to  show  to  the  church  door.  For 
his  part,  he  could  not  love  those  very  warmly 
who  did  not  love  the  "  Sixth  Mount  Zion." 

This  may  be  the  right  place  to  say  a  word  or 
two  as  to  Jasper's  enemies.  He  was  a  man  of 
war,  and  it  may  be  that  his  prejudices  sometimes 
got  in  the  saddle.  But  not  very  often.  Possibly, 
his  most  striking  characteristic  was  his  bottom 
sense  of  justice.  He  told  the  truth  by  instinct, 
and  it  never  occurred  to  him  to  take  an  undue 
advantage.  If,  however,  a  man  wronged  him, 
he  was  simply  terrible  in  bringing  the  fellow  to 
book.  There  was  a  case,  in  which  it  is  better  not 
to  mention  names,  in  which  an  insidious  and 
grievous  accusation  was  brought  against  this 
sturdy  old  friend  of  the  faith.  The  charge  sought 


JASPER  SET  FREE  63 

to  fasten  falsehood  upon  Jasper.  That  was 
enough  for  him, — it  amounted  to  a  declaration 
of  war,  and  at  once  he  entered  upon  the  conflict. 
Never  did  he  cease  the  strife  until  the  charge 
was  unsaid.  Nothing,  in  short,  could  terrify 
him. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  those  who  assailed 
him  with  questions  and  arguments  were  put  into 
the  category  of  personal  enemies.  Controversy 
was  exactly  to  his  taste.  All  he  asked  of  the 
other  man  was  to  state  his  proposition,  and  he 
was  ready  for  the  contest.  Not  that  he  went 
into  it  pell-mell.  By  no  means ;  he  took  time 
for  preparation,  and  when  he  spoke  it  was  hard 
to  answer  him.  This,  of  course,  applies  when 
the  questions  were  theological  and  Scriptural, 
and  not  scientific.  His  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures was  remarkable,  and  his  spiritual  insight 
into  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  was  extraordinary. 
When  he  preached,  he  supported  every  point 
with  Scriptural  quotations,  invariably  giving  the 
chapter  and  verse,  and  often  adding,  "  Ef  yer  don' 
find  it  jes'  ezackly  ez  I  tells  yer,  yer  kin  meet 
me  on  de  street  nex'  week  an'  say  ter  me :  '  John 
Jasper,  you  ar  er  Her,'  an'  I  won'  say  er  wurd." 

What  gave  to  Jasper  an  exalted  and  impress- 
ive presence  was  his  insistent  claim  that  he  was 
a  God-sent  man.  This  he  asserted  in  almost 
every  sermon,  and  with  such  evident  conviction 
that  he  forced  other  people  to  believe  it  Even 


64  JOHN  JASPER 

those  who  differed  with  him  were  constrained 
to  own  his  sincerity  and  Godliness.  It  was  im- 
possible to  be  with  him  much  without  being  im- 
pressed that  he  was  anointed  of  God  for  his 
work.  It  was  in  this  that  his  people  gloried. 
Their  faith  in  him  was  preeminent, — far  above 
every  question — and  he  was  also  full  of  in- 
spiration. You  may  talk  with  his  disciples 
now,  wherever  you  meet  them,  and  they  are 
quick  to  tell  you  that  "  Brer  Jasper  was  certinly 
aninted  uv  God,"  and  even  the  more  intelligent 
of  the  people  ascribed  his  greatness  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  under  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Many  wicked  people  heard  him  preach,  and 
some  of  them  still  went  their  wicked  way,  but 
they  felt  that  the  power  of  God  was  with  Jasper, 
and  they  were  always  ready  to  say  so.  In 
many  points,  John  Jasper  was  strikingly  like 
John  the  Baptist, — a  just  man  and  holy,  and 
the  people  revered  him  in  a  way  I  never  met 
with  in  any  other  man. 


vn 

THE  PICTURE-MAKER 

IN  the  circle  of  Jasper's  gifts  his  imagination 
was  preeminent.  It  was  the  mammoth  lamp 
in  the  tower  of  his  being.  A  matchless  painter 
was  he.  He  could  flash  out  a  scene,  colouring 
every  feature,  denning  every  incident  and  un- 
veiling every  detail.  Time  played  no  part  in 
the  performance, — it  was  done  before  you  knew 
it.  Language  itself  was  of  second  moment. 
His  vocabulary  was  poverty  itself,  his  grammar 
a  riot  of  errors,  his  pronunciation  a  dialectic 
wreck,  his  gestures  wild  and  unmeaning,  his 
grunts  and  heavings  terrible  to  hear.  At  times 
he  hardly  talked  but  simply  emitted  ;  his  pictures 
were  simply  himself  in  flame.  His  entire  frame 
seemed  to  glow  with  living  light,  and  almost 
wordlessly  he  wrought  his  miracles.  But  do 
not  misunderstand.  Some  insisted  on  saying 
that  education  would  have  stripped  John  of  his 
genius  by  subduing  the  riot  of  his  power  and 
chastening  the  fierceness  of  his  imagination.  I 
think  not,  for  John  in  a  good  sense  was  educated. 
He  was  a  reverential  and  laborious  student  for 
half-a-century.  He  worked  on  his  sermons  with 
a  marked  assiduity  and  acquired  the  skill  and 

65 


66  JOHN  JASPER 

mastership  of  faithful  struggle.  Even  his  imagi- 
nation had  to  work,  and  its  products  were  the 
fruit  of  toil.  There  was  no  mark  of  the  abnormal 
or  disproportionate  in  his  sky,  but  all  the  stars 
were  big  and  bright.  He  was  well  ballasted  in 
his  mental  make-up,  and  in  his  most  radiant 
pictures  there  was  an  ethical  regard  for  facts, 
and  an  instinctive  respect  for  the  truth.  More- 
over, his  ministrations  fairly  covered  the  theo- 
logical field,  were  strongly  doctrinal,  and  he 
grappled  with  honest  vigour  the  deepest  prin- 
ciples of  the  Gospel.  He  was  also  intensely 
practical,  scourging  sin,  lashing  neglect,  and 
with  lofty  authority  demanding  high  and  faithful 
living. 

Think  not  of  Jasper  merely  as  a  pictorial 
preacher.  There  were  wrought  into  his  pictures 
great  principles  and  rich  lessons.  But  now  and 
then  he  would  present  a  sermon  which  was 
largely  a  series  of  pictures  from  beginning  to 
end.  His  imagination  would  be  on  duty  all  the 
time  and  yet  never  flag.  I  cannot  forget  his 
sermon  on  Joseph  and  his  Brethren.  It  was  a 
stirring  presentation  of  the  varied  scenes  in  that 
memorable  piece  of  history.  He  opened  on  the 
favouritism  of  Jacob,  and  was  exceedingly  strong 
in  condemning  partiality,  as  unhappily  expressed 
in  the  coat  of  many  colours.  That  brief  part 
was  a  sermon  itself  for  parents.  From  that  he 
passed  quickly  to  the  envy  of  his  brothers. 


THE  PICTURE-MAKER  67 

jealousy  was  a  demon  creeping  in  among 
them,  inflicting  poisonous  stings,  and  spreading 
his  malignant  power,  until  murder  rankled  in 
every  heart.  Then  came  Joseph,  innocent  and 
ignorant  of  offending,  to  fall  a  victim  to  their 
conspiracy,  with  the  casting  of  him  into  the  pit, 
the  selling  of  him  to  the  travelling  tradesmen^ 
the  showing  to  Jacob  of  the  blood-stained  coat, 
with  scene  after  scene  until  the  happy  meeting 
at  last  between  Jacob  and  his  long  lost  son. 

One  almost  lived  a  lifetime  under  the  spell  of 
that  sermon.  It  was  eloquent,  pathetic,  terrific 
in  its  denunications,  rich  in  homely  piety,  and 
with  strains  of  sweetness  that  was  as  balm  to 
sorrowing  souls.  The  effects  were  as  varied  as 
human  thoughts  and  sentiments.  The  audience 
went  through  all  moods.  Now  they  were  bent 
down  as  if  crushed  with  burdens ;  now  they 
were  laughing  in  tumults  at  the  surprises  and 
charms  of  heavenly  truth ;  anon  they  were  sob- 
bing as  if  all  hearts  were  broken,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment hundreds  were  on  their  feet  shaking  hands, 
shouting,  and  giving  forth  snatches  of  jubilant 
song.  This  all  seems  extravagant,  without  so- 
briety entirely,  but  those  that  were  there,  per- 
haps without  an  exception,  felt  that  it  was  the 
veritable  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of  heaven. 

At  other  times,  Jasper's  sermons  were  sober 
and  deliberate,  sometimes  even  dull ;  but  rarely 
did  the  end  come  without  a  burst  of  eloquence 


68  JOHN  JASPER 

or  an  attractive,  entertaining  picture.  But,  re- 
member, that  his  pictures  were  never  foreign  to 
his  theme.  They  were  not  lugged  in  to  fill  up. 
They  had  in  them  the  might  of  destiny  and  fitted 
their  places,  and  fitted  them  well.  Often  they 
came  unheralded,  but  they  were  evidently  born 
for  their  part.  On  one  occasion  his  sermon  was 
on  Enoch.  It  started  out  at  a  plodding  gait  and 
seemed  for  a  time  doomed  to  dullness,  for  Jasper 
could  be  dull  sometimes.  At  one  time  he  brought 
a  smile  to  the  faces  of  the  audience,  in  speaking 
of  Enoch's  age,  by  the  remark :  "  Dem  ole  folks 
back  dar  cud  beat  de  presunt  ginerashun  livin' 
all  ter  pieces." 

As  he  approached  the  end  of  his  sermon,  his 
face  lighted  up  and  took  on  a  new  grace  and 
passion,  and  he  went  out  with  Enoch  on  his  last 
walk.  That  walk  bore  him  away  to  the  border 
of  things  visible ;  earthly  scenes  were  lost  to 
view ;  light  from  the  higher  hills  gilded  the 
plains.  Enoch  caught  sight  of  the  face  of  God, 
heard  the  music  and  the  shouting  of  a  great  host, 
and  saw  the  Lamb  of  God  seated  on  the  throne. 
The  scene  was  too  fair  to  lose,  and  Enoch's  walk 
quickened  into  a  run  which  landed  him  in  his 
father's  house.  It  was  a  quick,  short  story,  told 
in  soft  and  mellow  tones,  and  lifted  the  audience 
up  so  far  that  the  people  shouted  and  sang  as  if 
they  were  themselves  entering  the  gates  of 
heaven. 


THE  PICTURE-MAKER  69 

One  of  his  more  elaborate  descriptions,  far  too 
rich  to  be  reproduced,  celebrated  the  ascension  of 
Elijah.  There  was  the  oppressive  unworldliness 
of  the  old  prophet,  his  efforts  to  shake  off  Elisha, 
and  Elisha's  wise  persistence  in  clamouring  for  a 
blessing  from  his  spiritual  father.  But  it  was 
when  the  old  prophet  began  to  ascend  that 
Jasper,  standing  off  like  one  apart  from  the  scene, 
described  it  so  thrillingly  that  everything  was  as 
plain  as  open  day.  To  the  people,  the  prophet 
was  actually  and  visibly  going  away.  They  saw 
him  quit  the  earth,  saw  him  rise  above  the  moun- 
tain tops,  sweeping  grandly  over  the  vast  fields 
of  space,  and  finally  saw  him  as  he  passed  the 
moon  and  stars.  Then  something  happened.  In 
the  fraction  of  a  second  Jasper  was  transmuted 
into  Elijah  and  was  actually  in  the  chariot  and 
singing  with  extraordinary  power  the  old  chorus : 
"  Going  up  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire."  The 
scene  was  overmastering  1  For  a  time  I  thought 
that  Jasper  was  the  real  Elijah,  and  my  distinct 
feeling  was  that  the  song  which  he  sang  could 
be  heard  around  the  world.  Of  course,  it  was 
not  so ;  but  there  was  something  in  the  experi- 
ence of  the  moment  that  has  abided  with  me  ever 
since. 

At  a  funeral  one  Sunday  I  saw  Jasper  at- 
tempt a  dialogue  with  death,  himself  speaking 
for  both.  The  line  of  thought  brought  him 
face  to  face  with  death  and  the  grave.  The 


70  JOHN  JASPER 

scene  was  solemnized  by  a  dead  body  in  a  coffin. 
He  put  his  hands  over  his  mouth  and  stooped 
down  and  addressed  death.  Oh,  death — death, 
speak  to  me.  Where  is  thy  sting?  And  then 
with  the  effect  of  a  clairvoyant  he  made  reply : 
"  Once  my  sting  was  keen  and  bitter,  but  now  it 
is  gone.  Christ  Jesus  has  plucked  it  out,  and  I 
have  no  more  power  to  hurt  His  children.  I  am 
only  the  gatekeeper  to  open  the  gateway  to  let 
His  children  pass."  In  closing  this  chapter  an 
incident  will  largely  justify  my  seemingly  extra- 
ordinary statements  as  to  the  platform  power  of 
this  unschooled  negro  preacher  in  Virginia. 

In  company  with  a  friend  I  went  very  often 
Sunday  afternoons  to  hear  Jasper  and  the  fact  was 
bruited  about  quite  extensively,  and  somewhat 
to  the  chagrin  of  some  of  my  church-members. 
Two  of  them,  a  professor  in  Richmond  College 
and  a  lawyer  well-known  in  the  city,  took  me  to 
task  about  it.  They  told  me  in  somewhat  de- 
cided tones  that  my  action  was  advertising  a 
man  to  his  injury,  and  other  things  of  a  similar 
sort.  I  cared  but  little  for  their  criticism,  but 
told  them  that  if  they  would  go  to  hear  him  when 
he  was  at  his  best,  and  if  afterwards  they  felt 
about  him  as  they  then  felt,  I  would  consider 
their  complaints.  They  went  the  next  Sunday. 
The  house  was  overflowing,  and  Jasper  walked 
the  mountain  tops  that  day.  His  theme  was 
"The  raising  of  Lazarus"  and  by  steps  majestic 


THE  PICTUKE-MAKER  71 

he  took  us  along  until  he  began  to  describe  the 
act  of  raising  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  It  hap- 
pened that  the  good  professor  was  accompanied 
by  his  son,  a  sprightly  lad  of  about  ten,  who  was 
sitting  between  his  father  and  myself.  Suddenly 
the  boy,  evidently  agitated,  turned  to  me  and 
begged  that  we  go  home  at  once.  I  sought  to 
soothe  him,  but  all  in  vain,  for  as  he  proceeded 
the  boy  urgently  renewed  his  request  to  go  home. 
His  father  observed  his  disquietude  and  putting 
an  arm  around  him  restored  him  to  calmness. 
After  the  service  ended  and  we  had  reached  the 
street,  I  said  to  him  :  "  Look  here,  boy,  what 
put  you  into  such  a  fidget  to  quit  the  church  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  service  ? "  "  Oh,  doctor,  I 
thought  he  had  a  dead  man  under  the  pulpit  and 
was  going  to  take  him  out,"  he  said.  My  lawyer 
brother  heard  the  sermon  and  with  profound 
feeling  said,  "  Hear  that,  and  let  me  say  to  you 
that  in  a  lifetime  I  have  heard  nothing  like  it, 
and  you  ought  to  hear  that  man  whenever  you 
can." 

I  heard  no  later  criticisms  from  any  man  con- 
cerning my  conduct  in  evincing  such  cordial 
interest  in  this  eloquent  son  of  Fluvanna. 

It  was  only  necessary  to  persuade  Jasper's 
critics  to  hear  him,  to  remove  all  question  as 
to  his  genuine  character  and  effective  spiritual 
ministry. 


VIII 

JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS 

THE  domestic  history  of  this  rare  and  gifted 
man  was  not  without  its  tragical  incidents.  One 
of  the  worst  features  of  slavery,  as  an  institution 
in  the  South,  was  the  inevitable  legislation  which 
it  necessitated,  and  under  which  many  grievous 
wrongs  were  perpetrated.  The  right  of  the  slave 
owner  to  the  person  of  the  slave  carried  with  it 
the  authority  to  separate  man  and  wife  at  the 
dictate  of  self-interest,  and  that  was  often  done, 
though  it  ought  to  be  said  that  thousands  of  kind- 
hearted  men  and  women  did  their  utmost  to 
mitigate  the  wrongs  which  such  legislation  legal- 
ized. In  the  sale  of  the  negroes  regard  was  often 
had  for  the  marriage  relation,  and  it  was  arranged 
so  that  the  man  and  wife  might  not  be  torn 
asunder.  But  it  was  not  always  this  way.  Too 
often  the  sanctity  of  marriage  and  the  laws  of 
God  concerning  it  were  sacrificed  to  the  greed  of 
the  slaveholder. 

If  the  tradition  of  Mr.  Jasper's  first  marriage  is 
to  be  accepted  as  history,  then  he  was  the  victim 
of  the  cruel  laws  under  which  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  governed.  In  the  changes  which 

72 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  73 

came  to  him  in  the  breaking  up  of  the  family  to 
which  he  belonged  his  lot  was  cast  for  a  while 
in  the  city  of  Williamsburg.  The  story  is  that 
he  became  enamoured  of  a  maiden  bearing  the 
name  of  Elvy  Weaden,  and  he  was  successful  in 
his  suit  It  chanced,  however,  that  on  the  very 
day  set  for  his  marriage,  he  was  required  to  go 
to  Richmond  to  live.  The  marriage  was  duly 
solemnized  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  bride 
abruptly,  but  was  buoyed  with  the  hope  that  fairer 
days  would  come  when  their  lot  would  be  cast 
together.  The  fleeting  days  quenched  the  hope 
and  chilled  the  ardour  of  the  bride,  and  in  course 
of  time  the  impatient  woman  notified  Jasper  that 
unless  he  would  come  to  see  her  and  they  could 
live  together,  she  would  account  herself  free  to 
seek  another  husband.  He  was  not  a  man  to 
brook  mistreatment,  and  he  made  short  work  of 
the  matter.  He  wrote  her  that  he  saw  no  hope 
of  returning  to  Williamsburg,  and  that  she  must 
go  ahead  and  work  out  her  own  fate.  Naturally 
enough,  the  difficulties  under  which  the  married 
life  had  to  be  maintained  served  to  weaken  seri- 
ously the  marital  tie  and  to  imperil  the  virtue  of 
the  slaves.  But  this  remark  ought  not  to  be 
made  without  recalling  the  fact  that  there  were 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  happy  and 
well-governed  families  among  the  slaves  of  the 
South. 
Jasper  felt  seriously  the  blight  of  this  untimely 


74:  JOHN  JASPER 

marriage  and  he  seems  to  have  remained  unmar- 
ried until  after  he  united  with  the  church  and  be- 
came a  preacher.  In  time,  his  thoughts  turned 
again  to  marriage.  He  was  then  a  member  of 
the  First  African  Baptist  Church  of  Richmond. 
He  took  the  letter  which  his  wife  had  written  him 
some  time  before  and  presented  it  to  the  church 
and  asked  what  was  his  duty  under  the  circum- 
stances. It  was  a  complex  and  vexing  question, 
but  his  brethren,  after  soberly  weighing  the  mat- 
ter, passed  a  resolution  expressing  the  conviction 
that  it  would  be  entirely  proper  for  him  to  marry 
again.  Accordingly,  about  five  years  after  his 
conversion,  he  married  a  woman  bearing  the  un- 
usual name  of  Candus  Jordan.  According  to  all 
reports,  this  marriage  was  far  more  fruitful  in 
children  than  in  the  matter  of  connubial  peace 
and  bliss  for  the  high-strung  and  ambitious  Jasper. 
It  seems  that  the  case  must  have  had  some  re- 
volting features,  as  in  due  time  Jasper  secured  a 
divorce  and  was  fully  justified  by  his  brethren 
and  friends  in  taking  this  action.  Evidently  this 
separation  from  his  wife,  which  was  purely  vol- 
untary, in  no  way  weakened  him  in  the  confi- 
dence and  good-will  of  the  people. 

Years  after  his  divorce,  Jasper  married  Mrs. 
Mary  Anne  Cole.  There  were  no  children  by 
this  marriage,  but  his  wife  had  a  daughter  by  her 
former  marriage  who  took  the  name  of  Jasper,  and 
was  adopted  in  fact  and  in  heart  as  the  daugh- 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  75 

ter  of  this  now  eminent  and  beloved  minister. 
This  wife  died  in  1874,  and  Jasper  married  once 
more.  His  widow  survived  him  and  still  lives, 
a  worthy  and  honoured  woman  whose  highest 
earthly  joy  is  the  recollection  of  having  been  the 
wife  of  Elder  John  Jasper,  and  also  the  solace  and 
cheer  of  his  old  age.  This  is  a  checkered  story  of 
a  matrimonial  career,  but  justice  loudly  demands 
the  statement  that  through  it  all  John  Jasper 
walked  the  lofty  path  of  virtue  and  honour.  It 
was  impossible,  however,  for  a  man  like  Jasper 
to  escape  the  arrows  of  the  archer.  Jealousy, 
envy,  and  slander  were  often  busy  with  his  name, 
and  if  foul  charges  could  have  befouled  him  none 
could  have  been  fouler  than  he.  But  his  daily 
life  was  a  clean  and  unanswerable  story.  Re- 
proaches would  not  stick  to  him,  and  the  dead- 
liest darts  fell  harmless  at  his  feet.  His  noble 
seriousness,  his  absorption  in  the  study  of  the 
Bible,  his  enthusiasm  in  the  ministry,  and,  most 
of  all,  his  quiet  walk  with  God,  saved  him  from 
the  grosser  temptations  of  life. 

Perhaps  the  finest  incident  in  all  the  story  of 
his  life  was  the  perfect  faith  of  the  people  in 
Jasper.  This  was  true  everywhere  that  he  was 
known,  but  it  was  most  powerfully  true  among 
those  who  stood  nearest  to  him  and  knew  him 
best.  Jasper,  to  them,  was  the  incarnation  of 
goodness.  They  felt  his  goodness,  revelled  in  it, 
and  lived  on  it.  Their  best  earthly  inspirations 


76  JOHN  JASPER 

sprang  out  of  the  fair  and  incorruptible  character 
of  their  pastor.  If  his  enemies  sought  to  under- 
mine and  defame  him,  they  rallied  around  him 
and  fought  his  battles.  Little  cared  he  for  the  ill 
things  said  about  him  personally.  Conscious  of 
his  rectitude,  and,  embosomed  in  the  love  of  his 
great  church,  he  walked  serenely  and  trium- 
phantly in  the  way  of  the  Lord.  He  believed  in 
the  sanctity  of  his  home,  and  he  hallowed  it  by 
the  purity,  honesty,  and  charity  of  his  brethren. 

Anxious  to  get  some  living  testimony  in 
regard  to  the  personal  character  of  Jasper,  I  de- 
termined to  get  in  contact  with  a  few  persons 
who  stood  very  close  to  him,  and  that,  for  many 
years.  In  what  follows  is  found  the  testimony 
of  a  truly  excellent  woman,  to  whom  I  was  di- 
rected, with  the  assurance  that  what  she  said 
might  be  taken  as  thoroughly  trustworthy.  She 
gave  her  name  as  Virginia  Adams,  and,  judging 
from  her  appearance  and  manner,  one  would 
probably  write  her  down  as  not  far  from  three- 
score and  ten.  She  was  for  many  years  a  mem- 
ber of  his  church.  The  following  story  from  her 
lips  is  not  connected,  but  it  is  simply  the  unmethod- 
ical testimony  of  a  sensible  woman,  bearing  about 
it  the  marks  of  sincerity,  intelligence,  and  rev- 
erential affection. 

"  Brer'  Jasper  was  as  straightfor'd  a  man  es 
you  cud  see,  and  yer  cud  rely  'pon  ev'ry  word 
he  told  yer.  He  made  it  so  plain  dat  watuver 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  77 

he  tol*  yer  in  his  sermon  yer  cud  read  it  right 
thar  in  yer  heart,  jes'  like  he  had  planted  and 
stamped  it  in  yer.  I  can't  read  myse'f,  but  I  kno' 
well  when  anybody  mek  any  mistake  'bout  de 
passages  which  Brer  Jasper  used  to  preach  'bout. 
I've  got  'em  jes'  de  same  es  if  I  had  'em  printed 
on  my  mem'ry.  His  mi'ty  sermon  on  Elijer  is 
in  me  jes'  es  he  preached  it.  I  kin  see  Elijer  es 
Elisha  is  runnin'  arter  him, — kin  see  de  cheryot 
es  it  kum  down,  see  Brer  Jasper  es  he  wuz  pintin' 
ter  de  cheryot  es  it  riz  in  its  grand  flight  up  de 
skies, — see  Elijer  es  he  flung  his  mantul  out  es 
he  went  up,  and  I  tell  yer  when  Brer  Jasper  be- 
gan ter  sing  'bout  goin'  up  ter  heaven  in  a 
cheryot  uv  fire  I  cud  see  everything  jes'  es  bright 
es  day,  and  de  people  riz  such  a  shout  dat  I 
thought  all  de  wurl'  wuz  shoutin'.  Yes,  Brer 
Jasper  wuz  de  kindes'  man  I  reckon  on  de  urth. 
Yer  cudn't  finish  tellin'  him  'bout  folks  dat  wuz 
in  trouble  and  want,  befo'  he'd  be  gittin'  out  his 
money.  He  didn't  look  lik  he  keer  much  'bout 
money, — he  warn't  no  money-seeker,  and  yit  he 
look  lik  he  allus  hev  money,  and  he  wuz  allus  de 
fust  ter  give.  Jes'  tell  him  wat  wuz  needed,  and 
he  begun  fer  to  scratch  in  his  pocket. 

"  Brer  Jasper  kep'  things  lively.  People  wuz 
talkin'  all  de  time  'bout  his  sermons,  and  yer  cud 
hear  their  argiments  while  yer  wuz  gwine  'long 
de  streets.  Often  his  members  an'  udder  folks 
too  wud  git  tangled  up  'bout  his  doctrines  and 


I 
78  JOHN  JASPER 

dey  wud  git  up  texs  an'  subjiks  an'  git  him  ter 
preach  'bout  'em.  Ef  any  uv  his  brutherin  had 
trubbul  wid  passiges  uv  de  scripshur  and  went 
ter  him  'bout  'em,  you'd  sure  hear  frum  him  nex 
Sunday.  He  luv  ter  splain  things  fer  his  bruth- 
erin. 

"  It  wuz  Bruther  Woodson,  de  sexton  uv  de 
church,  and  anudder  man  dat  got  Brer  Jasper  in 
ter  dat  gret  'citemint  'bout  de  sun.  Dey  got  in- 
ter a  spute  es  to  wheddur  de  sun  went  'roun'  de 
wurF  ur  not,  and  dey  took  it  ter  our  pastor,  and 
really  I  thought  I  nevur  wud  hear  de  end  of  dat 
thing.  Folks  got  arter  Brer  Jasper  in  de  papurs 
and  every whar ;  but  I  tell  yer  dey  nevur  skeered 
him.  He  wuz  es  brave  es  a  lion,  an'  I  don'  kno' 
how  often  he  preached  dat  sermon.  It  look  lik 
all  de  people  in  de  wurl'  want  to  kum. 

"  No,  Brer  Jasper  wuz  no  money-grabbur. 
When  de  church  wuz  weak  and  cudn't  raze  much 
money,  he  nevur  sot  no  salary.  Yer  cudn't  git 
him  ter  do  it.  He  tell  'em  not  ter  trubble  'em- 
selves,  but  jes'  giv  him  wat  dey  chuze  ter  put  in 
de  baskit  and  he  nevur  made  no  kumplaint.  Wen 
de  church  got  richer  dey  crowd  'im  hard  ter  kno' 
how  much  he  wantid,  and  he  at  las'  tell  'em  dat 
he  wud  take  $62.50  a  month,  and  dat  he  didn't 
want  no  more  dan  dat.  Wen  de  gret  crowds 
got  ter  kummin*  and  de  white  folks  too,  and  de 
money  po'ed  in  so  fas'  de  brutherin  farly  quarl'd 
wid  him  ter  git  his  sal'ry  raz'd,  but  he  say  No  J 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  79 

I  git  nuff  now,  and  I  want  no  more.  I'm  not 
here  to  gouge  my  people  out  of  es  much  money 
es  I  kin.  He  say  he  got  nuff  money  to  pay  his 
taxes  and  buy  wat  he  needed,  and  if  dey  got 
more  dan  dey  wantid  let  'em  take  it  and  help  de 
Lord's  pore.  Sometimes  we  used  ter  '  poun' '  de 
ole  man,  kerryin'  'im  all  kinds  uv  good  things  ter 
eat.  He  didn't  lik  it  at  all,  but  tuk  de  things  and 
sont  'em  'roun'  ter  de  pore  people. 

"  Brer  Jasper  wuz  nun  uv  yer  parshul  preachers. 
His  church  wuz  his  family,  and  he  had  no 
favrites.  He  did  not  bow  down  ter  de  high  nor 
hoi'  'imsef  'bove  de  low.  Enny  uv  his  people 
cud  kum  ter  him  'bout  all  dere  struggles  and 
sorrers.  He  hated  erroneyus  doctrines.  His 
faith  in  de  Bibul  wuz  powerful,  and  he  luved  it 
'bove  everything.  He  had  awful  dreds  'bout 
wat  mite  kum  ter  de  church  wen  he  wuz  gone. 
He  sometimes  said  in  a  mity  solem  way,  '  Wen  I 
am  daid  and  gone,  yer  will  look  out  ter  whar 
my  ashes  lay  and  wish  I  wuz  back  here  ter  'part 
ter  yer  de  pure  wurd  uv  Gord  agin.  I  got  a  fear 
dat  dose  dat  kum  arter  me  will  try  ter  pull  down 
wat  I  built  up.  I  pray  Gord,  my  children  will 
stand  by  de  ship  uv  Zion  wen  I's  gone.' 

' '  Brer  Jasper  got  troubles  'bout  de  way  young 
childun  wuz  got  inter  de  church.  He  say  'all 
yer  got  ter  do  is  to  pitty-pat  em  (making  the 
motion  in  the  pulpit  with  his  hands)  on  dere 
haids  and  dey  are  in  de  kingdom.  Sum  uv  yer 


80  JOHN  JASPER 

duz  the  convertin'  of  dese  little  uns  fnstid  er 
leavin'  it  ter  God  ter  do  de  work.'  He  believed 
in  regenerashum  of  folks.  He  preach'd  ter  de 
very  last  on  being  born  agin,  and  he  didn't 
want  nobody  ter  kum  inter  his  church  wat  ain't 
felt -de  power  uv  de  sperrit  in  dere  souls. 

"  But  Brer  Jasper  wuz  a  mity  luver  uv  de 
childun.  He  had  a  great  way  of  stoppin'  and 
talkin'  ter  dem  on  de  street.  He  wuz  a  beauti- 
ful story-teller,  and  de  childrun  often  flocked  ter 
his  house  ter  hear  'im  tell  nice  stories  and  all 
kine  uv  good  tales.  He  kept  pennies  in  his 
pockets  and  often  dropped  'em  along  for  de 
chilrun — he  had  great  ways, — til  de  chilrun 
ud  think  he  wuz  de  greatest  man  dat  ever  put 
foot  on  de  yearth. 

"  Brer  Jasper  wuz  sosherbul  wid  everybody,  and 
nobody  cud  beat  him  as  a  talker.  He  knew  lots 
'bout  Richmond,  and  de  ole  times,  and  he  had 
de  grandest  stories  and  jokes  dat  he  luved  ter 
tell  and  dat  de  folks  went  wild  ter  hear.  He 
wuz  great  on  jokes  and  cracked  'em  in  sech  a 
funny  way  dat  folks  most  killed  de  'sefs  laughin'. 
But  yer  mus'  kno'  dat  he  wuz  mity  keerful  'bout 
how  he  talked.  Yer  neer  hear  no  bad  words 
frum  his  mouth.  His  stories  he  could  tell  enny- 
whar,  and  wuz  jes'  as  nice  ter  de  ladies  as  ter 
der  men.  He  didn't  b'leve  in  no  Sercities.  Dey 
tried  ter  git  'im  in  de  Masons,  and  I  don't  kno' 
wat  all,  but  he  ain't  tech  none  uv  'em.  He  sez 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  81 

oar  ain't  but  one  Grand  Past  Master  and  dat  is 
King  Jesus. 

"*  Dey  orf'n  wanted  'im  at  de  big  public  suppers 
war  dey  et  an'  drank  an'  made  speeches,  but  he 
wouldn't  go  near ;  and  den  our  high  people  had 
der  big  suppers  in  dere  houses  and  wanted  de 
'onur  uv  entertainin'  Brer  Jasper,  but  he  didn't 
hanker  arter  dose  kind  uv  things.  He  wanted 
his  meals  simple  and  reglur  and  uv  de  plain 
sort,  and  as  fer  dese  high  ferlootin'  feasts  dey 
didn't  suit  his  taste. 

"  It  look  lik  Brer  Jasper  couldn't  stop  preachin'. 
It  wuz  his  food  and  drink,  an'  enny  time  he'd  git 
way  beyond  his  strength.  I've  seen  'im  wen  it 
looked  lik  de  las'  bref  hed  gone  out' en  his  body, 
and  sometimes  some  uv  de  brutherin  say  he  did 
not  look  like  a  natchul  man.  He  seemed  more  in 
hevun  dan  on  urth.  I  most  reckun  some  uv 
de  brutherin  thought  he  wuz  gone  up  in  ter 
heavun  like  Lijer.  Dey  go  in  de  pulpit  and  tek 
hoi'  uv  'im  and  say  Brer  Jasper  yer  dun  preached 
nuff.  Don't  wear  yerself  down.  Tek  yer  seat 
and  res'  yersef.  He  knew  dey  did  it  fer  luv,  and 
he  took  it  kind,  but  he  didn't  always  stop  at  once. 

"  Brer  Jasper  had  a  walk  mity  remarkbul.  Wen 
ne  went  in  de  streets  he  wuz  so  stately  and 
grave  lik  dat  he  walk  diffrunt  from  all  de 
people.  Folks  wud  run  out  uv  all  de  stores,  or 
out  on  der  porches,  or  turn  back  ter  look  wen 
Jasper  kum  'long.  Oh,  it  made  us  proud  ter 


82  JOHN  JASPER 

look  at  him.  No  other  preacher  could  walk  like 
him.  Yer  felt  de  ground  got  holy  war  he  went 
'long.  Sum  uv  'em  say  it  wuz  ekul  ter  a  re- 
vival ter  see  John  Jasper  moving  lik  a  king 
'long  de  street.  Often  he  seemed  ter  be  wrappd 
up  in  his  thoughts  and  hardly  to  know  whar  he 
wuz.  De  people  feared  'im  so  much, — wid  sech 
a  luvin'  kind  uv  fear,  dat  dey  hardly  dared  to 
speak  ter  him. 

"  Brer  Jasper  wuz  mity  fond  uv  walkin'  in  de 
pulpit.  It  wuz  a  great  large  place,  and  he 
frisked  round  most  lik  he  wuz  a  boy.  Wen  he 
filled  up  wid  de  rousement  of  the  Gospel  on  him, 
it  was  just  glor'us  to  see  him  as  he  whirled 
about  the  stand  ;  the  faces  of  his  folks  shone 
wid  de  brightness  of  de  sun,  and  they  ofen 
made  the  house  ring  with  laughter  and  with 
their  shouts. 

"  One  thing  he  did  dat  always  made  his  congre- 
gasons  rock  wid  joy,  an'  dat  wuz  ter  sing  wile 
he  wuz  preachin'.  He  wuz  mos'  ninety  years 
old,  but  he  never  lost  his  power  ter  sing,  an' 
wen  he  struck  er  tune  de  note  uv  it  shot  in  de 
people  lik  arrurs  from  anguls  quivur.  Yer 
cudn't  hoi'  still  wen  Jasper  sung.  Soon  as  he 
started,  de  people  would  'gin  to  swing  an'  jine 
in  tel  de  music  filled  de  house.  He  cud  sing  a 
heap  uv  songs,  but  he  had  a  few  great  songs. 
Yer  orter  to  hear  him  sing  by  hiself  his  favrite 
piece."  Here  it  is  : 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  83 

EV'BUDY  GOT  TER  RISE  TER  MEET 
KING  JESUS  IN  DE  MORNIN' 

"  '  Ev'budy  got  ter  rise  ter  meet  King  Jesus  in 

de  mornin' ; 
De  high  and  de  lo' ; 
De  rich  and  de  po', 
De  bond  and  de  free, 
As  well  as  me. 

"  <  Yer  got  ter  rise  ter  meet  King  Jesus  in  de 

mornin', 

Weddur  yer  iz  purparred  er  no, 
Ter  Gord's  trirbewnul 
Yer  got  ter  go, 

Yer  got  ter  rise  ter  meet  King  Jesus  in  de 
mornin'. 

" '  De  lurnid  and  de  unlurnid, 
Barbareun,  Jentile  and  de  Jew, 
Hev  yer  red  hit  in  Hiz  wurd, 
Dat  de  peepul  wuz  drondid  in  de  flud, 
Ev'budy  got  ter  rise  ter  meet  King  Jesus  in 
de  mornin'.' 


"  Dar  wuz  a  song  dat  Jasper  made  hisself. 
Some  called  it  a  ballard,  and  udders  said  it  wuz  a 
poem  ;  but  wat  evur  twuz,  it  wuz  glory  ter  hear 
him  sing  it.  It  went  dis  way :  — 


"  '  I  beheld  and  lo 

A  grate  multertude  dat  no  man  kin  number, 
Thousuns  and  thousuns,  an'  ten  thousun  times 

ten  thousun, 
Standin'  befo'  de  Lam' , 
And  dey  had  pams  in  dere  hans. 


84  JOHN  JASPER 

"  '  Dey  nevur  restid  day  nur  night, 

Cryin'  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  iz  de  Lord,  Gord  uv 

Sabbuth 

Dat  wuz,  an'  iz,  and  iz  ter  kum, 
I  saw  a  mi'ty  ainjel  flyin'  through  de  midst  uv 

heaven, 

Cryin'  wid  a  loud  voice, 
Sayin'  Woe  !  Woe  !   Woe  !  be  unto  de  earth  by 

reazun  uv  de  trumpit, 
Dat  which  is  yet  ter  soun'. 
And  when  de  las'  trumpit  shall  soun', 
See  de  great  men  and  noble, 
De  rich,  and  de  po',  de  bond  and  de  free, 
Gueddur    'ernselves    terguedder,   cryin'    ter  de 

rocks,  an'  ter  de  mountins, 
Ter  fall  'pon  'em  an'  hide  'em, 
From  de  face  uv  Him  dat  sitteth  on  de  throne, 
De  great  day  uv  His  rath  hav  kum  an'  who  shall 

be  able  ter  stan'  ?  ' 


"  And  den,  too,  he  had  his  shoutin'  song.  He 
never  sung  it  'cept  wen  de  heavenly  fires  wuz 
burnin'  all  over  his  soul.  He  kept  tune  wid  his 
walkin'  and  wid  de  clappin'  uv  his  hands.  Dis 
song  never  got  in  'cept  at  de  close  uv  sermons 
dat  had  heaven  in  'em,  and  somehow  he  jumped 
from  de  sermon  all  at  once  in  ter  de  song  an'  it 
would  hev  fairly  kilt  yer  wid  joy  ter  hear  it. 
Here  is  de  way  he  put  it :  — 

"  '  My  soul  will  mount  higher  in  a  chariot  of  fire, 
And  de  wurl'  is  put  under  my  feet.' 

"  Dis  wuz  the  start  uv  it,  but  dere  wuz  heaps 
more. 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  85 

"  It  wuz  an  awful  time  ter  us  wen  we  begun  ter 
see  dat  our  ole  pastor  wuz  near  ter  de  end  uv  his 
race.  We  had  been  a-dreddin'  it  by  degrees  and 
it  broke  on  us  more  and  more.  I  think  de  dere 
man  tried  ter  git  us  reddy  fer  it.  He  kep  sayin' 
to  us :  '  My  chilrun,  my  work  on  de  earth  is 
dun.  I  doan  ask  death  no  more  odds  dan  a 
horse-fly.'  But  den  he'd  preach  so  powerful 
dat  we'd  hope  dat  he'd  hoi'  out  a  good  deal 
longer.  He  said  ter  me  one  day :  '  Compar- 
tivly  speakin',  my  time  in  dis  wurl'  is  skin  deep,' 
and  I  look  at  my  hand  and  think  how  thin  de 
skin  is,  and  I  feel  dat  sho'  nuff  he  mus'  soon  be 
goin'. 

"  One  night  at  de  church  he  turned  hissef  loos. 
He  said  dat  as  fer  'imself  it  mattered  nuthin'.  He 
had  paid  all  his  debts,  dat  he  did  not  keer  whar 
or  when  he  dropped  ;  but  he  wanted  everybody 
ter  know  dat  he  wud  be  wid  Jesus.  Dat  wuz  one 
uv  de  things  dat  he  luved  ter  say.  Den  he  told 
de  church  dat  dar  wuz  nuthin'  lef  uv  him, — dat 
he  wanted  'em  to  git  tergedder  and  pay  off  der 
church  debt  and  live  tergedder  lik  little  chil'run 
He  wuz  mity  gret  dat  night,  an'  it  looked  lik  de 
powers  uv  de  wurl'  ter  kum  wuz  dar. 

"  De  people  went  out  silent  lik  an'  dey  said  dat 
de  gud  ole  pastor  preached  his  own  funeral  dat 
night.  He  allus  thought  uv  hissef  es  de  servant 
uv  King  Jesus.  Dat  wuz  a  slavery  dat  he  liked 
and  nevur  wished  to  git  free  from  it.  Towards 


86  JOHN  JASPER 

de  las'  he  wuz  all  de  time  sayin' :  '  I  am  now 
at  de  river's  brink  and  waitin'  fer  furder  orders. 
It's  de  same  ter  me  ter  go  or  stay,  jes'  es  Gord 
commands ' 

"  Some  folks  said  dat  he  wuz  conceited.  Dey 
did  not  know  him.  He  wuz  too  full  uv  de  fear 
uv  Gord  to  think  he  wuz  sum  great  body,  an'  he 
know'd  his  own  sins  an'  troubles  too  well  ter 
boast.  He  must  hev  known  dat  Gord  made  him 
more  uv  a  man  dan  de  gen'ral  run.  He  had  ter 
kno'  dat,  'caus'  it  wuz  proved  ter  him  every  day, 
an'  in  a  heap  uv  ways.  Besides  dat,  he  hilt  his- 
self  up  high.  He  had  good  respec'  for  hisself 
and  felt  dat  a  man  lik  he  wuz  had  got  ter  be- 
have hisself  'cordin'  ter  wat  he  wuz.  But  dat 
wuz  very  different  from  bein'  one  uv  dese  giddy 
little  fops  dat  is  always  trancin'  aroun'  showin' 
hisself  off,  and  braggin'  'bout  everything.  I  often 
wondered  how  Jasper  could  be  so  umble  lik,  wen 
so  many  cacklin'  fools  wuz  bodderin'  'im. 

"  Brer  Jasper  could  git  up  big  things  wen  he 
tried.  Wen  dey  got  in  a  tight  place  'bout  de 
church  an'  had  to  have  money,  he  got  up  a  skur- 
shun  ter  Washington.  He  sent  out  de  members 
ter  sell  tickets,  an'  dey  sold  so  many  dat  dey  had 
ter  have  two  trains  ter  carry  'em,  and  jes'  think, 
sir,  he  cleared  $1,500  fer  his  church  by  dat  skur- 
shun,  and  he  got  up  anudder  to  Staunton  dat 
wuz  mos'  as  good  as  de  udder  one.  Ah,  he  wuz 
a  leader,  I  tell  you  he  wuz.  We  never  could 


JASPER'S  STAR  WITNESS  87 

have  had  our  fine  church  if  it  had  not  bin  fer 
him. 

"  It's  mity  easy  fer  folks  ter  forget  things.  Some 
folks  are  teerin'  'roun'  as  if  the  church  b'longed 
ter  'em  now,  and  dey  are  ready  ter  tell  you  dat 
Jasper  made  mistakes  and  all  dat,  but  sum  uv  us 
knows  well  dat  Jasper  built  dat  church.  You 
need  nevur  spectter  hear  any  more  sech  preachin' 
in  dat  pulpit  as  dat  grand  ole  man  uv  God  used 
ter  give  us. 

"  You  know  Brer  Jasper  got  convicted  uv  his 
sins  fer  de  first  time  on  de  4th  of  July  in  Capitol 
Squar',  Richmond.  He  use  ter  tell  us  'bout  it 
many  a  time.  While  de  folks  wuz  swarmin' 
'roun'  and  laffin'  and  hurrahin',  an  arrer  uv  con- 
vicshun  went  in  ter  his  proud  heart  an'  brought 
'im  low.  He  never  forgot  dat  place,  and  when 
he  got  ter  be  an  ole  man  he  wuz  kinder  drawn 
ter  Capitol  Squar.  He  luv  ter  go  down  dar. 
He  like  de  cool  shade  uv  de  trees  and  'joyed  de 
res',  dozin'  sometimes  wen  he  wuz  tired.  De 
people,  and  speshully  de  chilrun,  used  ter  git 
'roun'  him  an'  ask  him  questions  an'  make  him 
talk.  He  lik  things  lik  dat.  Some  uv  de  Jews 
used  ter  kum  ter  hear  Brer  Jasper  preach.  They 
called  him  Father  Abraham  and  showed  gret  gud 
feelin'  fur  'im.  Some  uv  'em  used  ter  meet  him 
in  de  Cap'tol  Squar*  an'  dey  would  have  great 
ole  talks  tergudder,  an'  he  didn't  mind  tellin'  'em 
de  truth  an'  he  told  'em  dat  dey  wuz  de  chilrun 


88  JOHN  JASPER 

uv   Abraham,    but    dat    dey  had    gone  all  te» 
pieces. 

"  Dey  tell  me  he  never  went  ter  skule  'cep'  six 
months,  an'  I  hear  dat  he  jes'  studied  wid  a  man 
dat  taught  him  in  a  New  York  Speller  book  ;  but 
when  he  spoke  at  de  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  many  uv 
de  white  gemmen  went  ter  hear  'im,  they 
say  he  certainly  used  ellergunt  language.  I 
know  he  could  handle  great  words  when  he 
wanted  to,  an'  he  could  talk  in  de  old  way,  an' 
he  often  loved  to  do  dat." 


IX 

JASPER'S  SERMON  ON  «  DEM  SEBUN  WIMMIN" 

"  DID  yer  ebur  git  yer  mine  on  wat  Iz'er  say  in 
chapter  fo'  an'  vurs  wun  ?  Listen  ter  hiz  wurds : 
'  An'  sebun  wimmin  shall  tek  hoi'  uv  wun  man 
in  dat  day,  sayin'  we  will  eat  our  own  bread 
an'  wear  our  own  'parrel ;  only  let  us  be  called 
by  Thy  name ;  tek  Thou  erway  our  reproach.' 
De  Profit  iz  furloserfizin'  'bout  de  mattur  uv 
wimmin, — speshully  wen  dar  is  sebun  in  de  Ian', 
wen  wars  dun  thin  out  de  men  and  de  wimmins 
feels  de  stings  an'  bites  uv  reproach.  I  tell  yer, 
yer  bettur  not  fling  yer  gibes  an'  sneers  at  er 
'omun.  She  wuzn't  made  ter  stan'  it,  an'  wats 
mo',  she  ain't  gwine  ter  stan'  it.  Shure  ez  yer  iz 
settin'  on  dat  bench  she  will  fly  erway  an'  hide 
hersef,  or  she  will  fly  at  yer,  an'  den,  ole  fellur, 
yer  had  bettur  be  pullin'  out  fer  de  tall  timbur 
fast.  Gord  dun  settled  it  dat  wun  'omun  iz  nuff 
fer  a  man,  an'  two  iz  er  war  on  yer  hans, — bles 
yer,  it  is. 

"  But  dar  kums  times  wen  it  goze  hard  wid 
wimmin.  Dey  iz  lef  out  uv  de  lottry  uv  heavun, 
— dey  draws  blanks  an'  dey  gits  ter  be  a  laughin' 
stock  uv  de  ungodly.  Not  dat  dey  iz  crazy  ter 
marry  an'  not  dat  dey  iz  uv  dat  flautin',  slatturn 

89 


90 

lot  dat's  allus  gallantin'  eroun'  ertryin'  ter  git  a 
man  ter  'sport  um.  Dese  wuz  squar,  alrite 
wimmin.  Wurk  wud  not  skeer  um.  Dey  wuz 
willin'  ter  mek  dere  bread  an'  does,  ter  pay  dere 
own  way,  purvidid  dey  cud  be  Mrs.  Sumbody, 
an'  in  dat  way  'skape  de  dev'lish  jeers  an'  slites 
uv  base  men.  Fur  my  part,  I  feels  quite  sorry 
fur  dat  class  uv  ladiz,  an'  I  kinder  feels  my  blud 
gittin'  up  wen  I  finds  folks  castin'  reproachiz  on 
dere  fair  names. 

"  But  my  mastur  in  de  skies  1  Dis  pikshur 
here  uv  de  Profit  iz  too  much  fer  me.  It  mek 
me  feel  lik  tekin'  ter  de  woods,  in  quick  ordur. 
Lord,  wat  wud  I  do  ef  I  wuz  pursued  by  er  army 
uv  seben  wimmin  axin  me  ter  'low  each  wun  uv 
um  ter  be  call'd  Mrs.  Jasper?  It  may  be  dat 
each  wun  wuz  fer  hersef  ter  de  limit,  an'  hoped 
ter  shet  out  de  udder  six  an*  hev  de  man  ter 
hersef ; — an'  ef  she  wuz  ter  hev  'im  ertall  she  ort 
ter  hav  all  uv  im.  Dar  iz  not  nuff  ter  d'vide ;  I 
tel  yer,  dar  ain't,  an'  wen  yer  git  er  haf  intrest  in 
er  man  yer  iz  po'  indeed,  an'  ef  only  wun  sevunth 
iz  yourn,  yer  had  es  wel  start  on  ter  de  po' house 
'fo  yer  git  yer  dinner. 

"  A  gud  'omun  can't  byar  ter  be  oberluked.  It 
ain't  her  nature,  an'  it  iz  a  site  fer  de  anguls  ter 
see  wat  sort  uv  men  sum  wimmin  wil  tek  sooner 
dan  be  lef  out  inti'ly. 

"  But  wat  gits  me  arter  all  iz  a  man.  I  see  'im 
in  de  quiet  uv  de  day, — de  Sabbuth  day.  He 


«  DEM  SEBUN  WIMMIN  »  91 

teks  a  strole  fer  de  koolin'  uv  hiz  mine,  erwearin* 
uv  hiz  nice  does,  an'  feelin'  lik  a  new  man  in  de 
City  Kounsil ;  de  fust  thing  he  know'd  a  lady 
glide  up  ter  'im  an'  put  her  han'  lite  on  hiz  arm. 
He  jump  'roun'  an'  she  say,  mity  flush'd  up, 
'  'skuse  me  ! ' 

"He  see  at  wunst  she  er  lady,  but  he  wuz  kinder 
lo'  in  hiz  sperrit,  an'  yit  he  wish  in  hiz  hart  dat 
she  had  gon  ter  de  udder  en  uv  de  rode,  but  he 
want  ter  hear  her  out. 

"She  tel  'im  de  site  uv  a  man  wuz  medsin 
fer  bad  eyes,  dat  nurly  all  uv  'em  wuz  cut  down 
in  de  war  an'  dat  in  konsquens  it  wuz  er  lonesum 
time  fer  wimmin ;  dey  hev  nobody  now  ringin' 
de  do'  bells  in  de  eebnin ;  no  boys  sendin'  'em 
flowers  an*  'fekshuns ;  no  sweetarts  tekin'  'em 
walkin'  on  Sunday  arternoons,  an'  weddins 
gwine  out  er  fashun.  An'  dis  ain't  de  wust  uv 
it.  It  mek  us  shamed.  De  wives, — dey  purrades 
'roun'  an'  brags  'bout  dere  '  ole  mans '  an'  cuts  der 
eye  at  us  skornful ;  an'  de  husban's  iz  mity  nigh 
es  bad,  erpokin'  fun  at  us  an'  axin  erbout  de 
chillun. 

"  She  say  yer  needn'  think  we're  crazy  ter 
marry ;  tain't  dat,  an'  tain't  dat  we  want  yer  ter 
'sport  us, — no,  no  !  We  hev  money  an'  kin  fun- 
nish  our  own  vittuls  an'  cloes,  an'  we  kin  wuk  ;  but 
it  iz  dat  reproach  dey  kas'  on  us,  de  wear  an'  tear 
uv  bein'  laff'd  at  dat  cuts  us  so  deep.  Ef  I  cud 
be  Mrs.  Sumbody, — had  sum  proof  dat  I  had 


92  JOHN  JASPER 

de  name  uv  sum  un, — sumthin'  ter  rub  off  de 
reproach.  Oat's  it, — dis  ding-dongin'  uv  de 
fokes  at  me, 

"  De  man  wuz  pale  es  linnin,  an*  wuz  hopin'  ter 
ansur,  but  fo'  de  wud  floo  frum  his  lips  ernudder 
'omun  hooked  'im  on  de  ter  side.  Mursy  uv  de 
Lord  1  two  uv  'em  had  'im  an'  it  luk  lik  dey  wuz 
gwine  ter  rip  'im  in  tew  an'  each  tek  a  haf.  De 
las'  wun  tel  her  tale  jes'  lik  de  fust  wun  an'  wuss. 
She  brung  in  tears  es  part  uv  her  argurmint,  an' 
de  ter  wun  got  fretted  an'  used  wuds  dat  wud 
hevkonkurred  'im  ef  jes'  den  two  mo', — two  mo', 
mine  yer,  mekin'  fo'  in  all,  hed  not  kum  up  an' 
gits  er  grip  on  de  gemmun,  an'  hiz  eyes  luk  lik 
dey'd  pop  out  his  hed ; — wun  on  each  side  an' 
two  ter  hiz  face,  an'  it  seems  he  gwine  ter  faint. 

" '  Yer  ladiz,'  he  says,  '  may  be  rite  in  yer 
'thuzasm,  but  yer  iz  too  menny.  Up  ter  dis  time 
I  hev  bin  shy  uv  wun,  but  ef  I  cud  be  erlowed 
ter  choose  jes'  wun  I  mite  try  it.' 

"  Den  de  fo'  wimmins  begun  ter  git  shaky  wen 
a  nur  wun  sailed  in, — dat's  five,  den  ernudder ; 
dat's  six,  and  den  wun  mo' — SEBUN  ! 

"  Luk,  will  yer  1  Sevun  got  wun  man.  It  izn't 
sed  wedder  de  wimmin  wuz  fer  a  partnurship  wid 
de  man  es  de  kapertul,  or  wedder  each  uv  'em 
hoped  ter  beat  out  de  udder  six  ;  but  wun  thing 
we  know  an'  dat  iz  dat  de  po'  man  iz  in  de  low 
grounds  uv  sorrur.  Ter  my  min',  de  pikshur  iz 
mity  seerus,  ebun  do  it  mek  us  smile.  Fur  my 


"  DEM  SEBUN  WIMMIN  "  93 

pel'  part,  I  iz  glad  we  lives  in  fairer  times.  In 
our  day  mens  iz  awful  plen'ful  wid  us,  tho'  I  kin 
not  say  dat  de  qualty  iz  fust  class  in  ve'y  menny. 
But  I  thanks  de  Lord  dat  mos'  enny  nice  leddy 
kin  git  merrid  in  dese  times  ef  dey  choose,  an' 
dat  wid  out  gwine  out  sparkin'  fur  de  man.  I 
notis  dat  ef  she  stay  ter  home,  ten  her  buznis, 
min'  her  mudder,  an'  not  sweep  de  streets  too 
off'n  wid  her  skirts,  in  de  long  run  her  modes' 
sperrit  will  win  de  day.  I  ubsurv  ernudder 
thing ;  de  unmerrid  lady,  de  ole  maid  es  sum 
calls  her, — need  not  hang  her  haid.  Jes'  let  her 
be  quiet  an'  surv  de  Lord;  jes'  not  fret  'bout 
wat  fools  says, — dey  duz  er  heep  uv  talkin',  but 
it  iz  lik  de  cracklin'  uv  de  burnin'  sticks  under  de 
pot,  a  big  fuss  an'  a  littul  heat.  Per  my  part,  I 
honners  de  'oman  dat  b'haves  hersef,  briduls  her 
tongue,  duz  her  wuk,  an'  sings  es  she  goes  erlong. 
Her  contentid  sperrit  beats  a  lazy  husbun'  ebry 
time,  an'  mity  off'n  it  brings  er  gud  husbun'  er- 
long. 

"  Es  fer  dese  fokes  dat  flurts  an'  skouts  at  ole 
maids  dey  ain'  fitten  ter  live,  an'  ort  ter  be  in  de 
bottum  uv  Jeems  Rivur,  'cept'n'  dey'd  spile  de 
watur.  No  gemmun  nur  no  lady  wud  do  it. 

"  Now  dis  iz  my  wud  'bout  de  wimmin,  an'  I 
hope  yer  lik  it,  but  if  yer  doant,  jes'  'member  dat 
Jasper  sed  it,  an'  will  stan'  by  it,  til  de  cows  in  de 
lo'er  feil'  kums  home." 


X 

JASPER  GLIMPSED  UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS 

JASPER'S  mother  was  near  the  century  line 
when  she  died,  and  he  attained  unto  the  extra- 
ordinary age  of  eighty- nine.  Truly  there  must 
have  been  rare  endurance  in  the  texture  of  the 
stock.  Jasper's  thoughts  did  not  turn  to  religion 
until  he  was  twenty-seven  and  yet  by  reason  of 
his  longevity  he  was  a  preacher  for  sixty  years. 
During  twenty-five  years  of  that  time  he  was  a 
slave,  and  he  had  about  thirty-five  years  of  per- 
sonal civil  freedom,  during  which  he  won  the 
distinctions  that  will  make  him  a  figure  slow  to 
pass  out  of  history. 

Jasper  can  have  no  successor.  Freedom  did 
not  change  him.  It  came  too  late  for  him  to  be 
seriously  affected  by  its  transforming  hand.  It 
never  dazzled  him  by  its  festive  charms  nor 
crooked  him  with  prejudice  against  the  white 
people.  There  was  far  more  for  him  in  the 
traditions,  sentiments,  and  habits  of  his  bondage- 
days  than  in  the  new  things  which  emancipation 
offered.  He  never  took  up  with  gaudy  displays 
which  marked  his  race  in  the  morning  of  their 
freedom.  This  was  especially  true  as  to  his 

94 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  95 

ministry.  He  clung  without  apology  to  the  old 
ways.  In  preaching,  he  spurned  the  new  pulpit 
manners,  the  new  style  of  dress,  and  all  new- 
fangled tricks,  which  so  fascinated  his  race.  He 
intoned  his  sermons, — at  least,  in  their  more  ten- 
der passages — sang  the  old  revival  songs  of  the 
plantations  and  factories,  and  felt  it  a  part  of  his 
religion  to  smash,  with  giant  hand,  the  innova- 
tions which  the  new  order  was  bringing  in.  Of 
all  the  men  whom  I  have  known  this  weird,  in- 
describable man  cared  the  least  for  opposition ; — 
unless  he  believed  it  touched  his  personal  honour 
or  was  likely  to  injure  the  cause  of  religion.  In- 
deed, he  liked  it.  He  was  a  born  fighter  and  a 
stranger  to  fear.  There  was  a  charm  in  his  re- 
sentments :  they  were  of  a  high  order,  and  in- 
evitably commanded  manly  sympathy.  He  in- 
stinctively identified  himself  with  the  Lord  and 
felt  that  when  he  fought  he  was  fighting  the 
Lord's  battles.  Satire  and  sarcasm  were  like 
Toledo  blades  in  his  hands.  He  often  softened 
his  attacks  upon  his  enemies  by  such  ludicrous 
hits  and  provoking  jests  that  you  felt  that,  after 
all,  his  hostility  lacked  the  roots  of  hatred.  He 
was  far  more  prone  to  despise  than  to  hate  his 
enemies. 

There  is  a  curious  fact  in  connection  with  Jas- 
per's language  Evidently  in  his  early  days 
his  speech  was  atrociously  un grammatical.  His 
dialect,  while  possessing  an  element  of  fascina- 


96  JOHN  JASPER 

tion,  was  almost  unspellable.  During  his  long 
ministerial  life  his  reading  and  contact  with  edu- 
cated people  rooted  out  many  of  his  linguistic 
excrescences.  There  were  times  when  he  spoke 
with  approximate  accuracy,  and  even  with  ele- 
gance ;  and  yet  he  delighted,  if  indeed  he  was 
conscious  of  it,  in  returning  to  his  dialect  and  in 
pouring  it  forth  unblushingly  in  its  worst  shape, 
and  yet  always  with  telling  effect  But  the  won- 
der of  his  speaking  was  his  practical  inde- 
pendence of  language.  When  he  became  thor- 
oughly impassioned  and  his  face  lit  with  the 
orator's  glory,  he  seemed  to  mount  above  the 
bondage  of  words  :  his  feet,  his  eyes,  indeed  every 
feature  of  his  outer  being  became  to  him  a  new 
language.  If  he  used  words,  you  did  not  notice 
it.  You  were  simply  entranced  and  borne  along 
on  the  mountain-tide  of  his  passion.  You  saw 
nothing  but  him.  You  heard  him  ;  you  felt  him, 
and  the  glow  of  his  soul  was  language  enough  to 
bring  to  you  his  message.  It  ought  to  be  added 
that  no  man  ever  used  the  pause  more  eloquently 
or  effectively  than  Jasper,  and  his  smile  was 
logic ;  it  was  rhetoric ;  it  was  blissful  conviction. 
Those  who  thought  that  Jasper  was  a  mere 
raver  did  not  know.  Logic  was  his  tower  of 
strength.  He  never  heard  of  a  syllogism,  but  he 
had  a  way  of  marshalling  his  facts  and  texts 
which  set  forth  his  view  as  clear  as  the  beaming 
sun.  The  Bible  was  to  him  the  source  of  all 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  97 

authority,  while  his  belief  in  the  justice  and  truth 
of  God  was  something  unworldly.  He  under- 
stood well  enough  his  frailties,  his  fallibility,  and 
the  tendency  of  the  human  soul  towards  unfair- 
ness and  deceit.  I  heard  him  say  once  with  irre- 
sistible effect :  "  Brutherin,  Gord  never  lies  ; 
He  can't  lie.  Men  lie.  I  lie  sometimes,  I  am 
very  sorry  to  say  it.  I  oughtn't  to  lie,  and  it 
hurts  me  when  I  do.  I  am  tryin'  ter  git  ober  it, 
and  I  think  I  will  by  Gord's  grace,  but  de  Lord 
nevur  lies."  His  tone  in  saying  this  was  so 
humble  and  candid  that  I  am  sure  the  people 
loved  him  and  believed  in  him  more  for  what  he 
said.  A  hypocrite  could  never  have  said  it. 
Jasper  could  never  be  put  into  words.  As  he 
could  speak  without  words  so  it  is  true  that 
words  could  never  contain  him, — never  tell  his 
matchless  story,  never  make  those  who  did  not 
hear  him  and  see  him  fully  understand  the  man 
that  he  was. 

A  notable  and  pathetic  episode  in  Jasper's  his- 
tory was  the  fact  that  during  the  bitter  days  of 
the  Confederacy  when  Richmond  was  crowded 
with  hospitals, — hospitals  themselves  crowded 
with  the  suffering, — Jasper  used  to  go  in  and 
preach  to  them.  It  was  no  idle  entertainment 
provided  by  a  grotesque  player.  He  always  had 
a  message  for  the  sorrowful.  There  is  no  ex- 
tended record  of  his  labours  in  the  hospitals,  but 
the  simple  fact  is  that  he,  a  negro  labourer  with 


98  JOHN  JASPER 

rude  speech,  was  welcomed  by  these  sufferers 
and  heard  with  undying  interest ;  no  wonder 
they  liked  him.  His  songs  were  so  mellow,  so 
tender,  so  reminiscent  of  the  southern  plantation 
and  of  the  homes  from  which  these  men  came. 
His  sermons  had  the  ring  of  the  old  gospel 
preaching  so  common  in  the  South.  He  had 
caught  his  manner  of  preaching  from  the  white 
preachers  and  they  too  had  been  his  only  theo- 
logical teachers.  We  can  easily  understand  how 
his  genius,  seasoned  with  religious  reverence, 
made  him  a  winsome  figure  to  the  men  who 
languished  through  the  weary  days  on  the 
cots.  It  cannot  be  said  too  often  that  Jasper  was 
the  white  man's  preacher.  Wherever  he  went, 
the  Anglo-Saxon  waived  all  racial  prejudices  and 
drank  the  truth  in  as  it  poured  in  crystal  streams 
from  his  lips. 

Quite  a  pretty  story  is  told  of  Jasper  at  the  be- 
ginnings of  his  ministry.  It  seems  that  he  went 
down  into  the  eastern  part  of  his  town  one  Sun- 
day to  preach  and  some  boisterous  ruffians  inter- 
fered, declaring  that  a  negro  had  no  right  to  go 
into  the  pulpit  and  that  they  would  not  allow 
Jasper  to  preach.  A  sailor  who  chanced  to  be 
present  and  knew  Jasper  faced  these  disorderly 
men  and  declared  to  them  that  Jasper  was  the 
smartest  man  in  Virginia  and  that  if  he  could 
take  him  to  the  country  from  whence  he  had 
come  he  would  be  treated  with  honour  and  dis- 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  99 

tinction.  There  was  also  a  small  white  boy 
standing  by,  and  touched  by  the  sincerity  and 
power  of  Jasper,  he  pluckily  jumped  into  the 
scene  and  exclaimed,  "  Yes,  let  him  go  on ;  what 
he  says  is  all  right.  I  have  read  it  all  in  the 
Bible,  and  why  shouldn't  he  speak  ?  "  The  in- 
cipient mob  was  dispersed,  and  his  audience  was 
fringed  with  a  multitude  of  white  people  who 
were  attracted  to  the  scene. 

It  is  not  intended  by  these  things  said,  con- 
cerning Jasper's  favour  with  the  white  people,  to 
indicate  that  Jasper,  in  the  least  degree,  was  not 
with  his  own  race.  Far  from  that.  He  loved 
his  own  people  and  was  thoroughly  identified 
with  them  ;  but  he  was  larger  than  his  race.  He 
loved  all  men.  He  had  grown  up  with  that 
pleasing  pride  that  the  coloured  people  who 
lived  in  prominent  families  had  about  white  peo- 
ple. Then,  too,  he  had  always  been  a  man  who 
had  won  favour  wherever  he  went,  and  the  white 
race  had  always  had  a  respect  and  affection  for 
him.  Jasper  was  never  ungrateful. 

There  were  sometimes  hard  passages  in  the 
road  which  Jasper  travelled.  At  the  end  of  the 
war  he  was  left  high  and  dry,  like  driftwood  on 
the  shore.  He  had  no  church ;  no  place  to 
preach  ;  no  occupation.  His  relations  with  the 
white  race  were  shattered,  and  things  were  grim 
enough  ;  but  ill-fortune  could  not  break  him. 
A  large  part  of  Richmond  was  in  ashes,  and  in 


100  JOHN  JASPER 

some  places  at  least  the  work  of  rebuilding  com- 
menced at  once, — or  rather  a  clearing  off  of  the 
debris  with  a  view  to  rebuilding.  Jasper  walked 
out  and  engaged  himself  to  clean  bricks.  Dur- 
ing the  Egyptian  bondage  the  Hebrews  made 
bricks  and  thought  they  had  a  hard  lot ;  but 
Jasper  spent  the  first  days  of  his  freedom  in  the 
brick  business, — a  transient  expedient  for  keep- 
ing soul  and  body  together  until  he  could  get 
on  his  feet  again.  Little  thought  the  eager  men 
who  were  trying  to  lay  the  foundations  for  their 
future  fortunes  that  in  the  tall  serious  negro  who 
sat  whacking  hour  after  hour  at  the  bricks  was 
one  of  God's  intellectual  noblemen.  Born  in 
bondage,  lowly  in  his  liberty  and  yet  great  in 
the  gifts  with  which  God  had  endowed  him,  it 
was  Jasper's  nature  to  be  almost  as  cheerful 
when  squatted  on  a  pile  of  bricks  and  tugging 
at  their  cleaning  as  if  he  had  a  seat  in  a  palace 
and  was  feeding  on  royal  dainties.  He  carried 
the  contented  spirit,  and  that  too  while  he  as- 
pired after  the  highest.  He  did  not  uselessly 
kick  against  the  inevitable,  but  he  always  strove 
for  the  best  that  was  in  his  reach. 

One  of  the  most  serious  jars  of  Jasper's  life 
was  his  conflict  with  some  of  his  brethren  in 
connection  with  his  notable  and  regrettable 
sermon  on  the  motion  of  the  sun.  Intelligent 
people  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  Jasper  knew 
nothing  of  natural  science,  and  that  his  venture 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  101 

into  the  field  of  astronomy  was  a  blunder.  It 
was  a  matter  that  did  not  in  the  least  involve 
his  piety  or  his  salvation,  nor  even  his  minis- 
terial efficiency.  His  whole  bearing  in  the  mat- 
ter was  so  evidently  sincere,  and  his  respect  for 
the  Bible,  as  he  understood  it,  was  so  unmeasured 
that  it  set  him  off  rather  to  an  advantage  than 
to  a  disadvantage.  It  is  told  in  another  place 
how  he  was  drawn  into  the  preaching  of  that 
sermon  which  gave  him  an  odd,  and  yet  a 
genuine,  celebrity.  It  was  no  love  for  sensation 
and  no  attempt  to  show  his  learning,  but  simply 
an  attempt  to  vindicate  the  Bible  as  he  under- 
stood it.  When  the  sermon  was  first  delivered 
it  created  a  wide-spread  sensation.  Some  of  the 
coloured  ministers  of  Richmond  were  shocked 
out  of  their  equanimity,  and  they  felt  that  some- 
thing must  be  done.  It  was  a  case  of  hysterics. 
In  a  fit  of  freakish  courage  some  of  them  made 
an  attack  on  Jasper.  A  letter  was  written  to  a 
Richmond  paper  and  signed  by  several  prominent 
negro  Baptists,  one  of  them  being  the  pastor  of 
a  strong  church.  In  this  letter  Jasper's  sermons 
were  bitterly  denounced,  and  they  were  spoken 
of  as  "a  base  fabrication,"  out  of  time  and 
place,  and  doing  more  harm  than  good.  It 
was  said  further  that  these  sermons  had  drawn 
such  crowds  that  it  had  resulted  in  the  injury 
of  a  number  of  persons,  and  that  a  better 
way  for  the  author  of  these  sermons  would  be 


102  JOHN  JASPER 

for  him  to   preach  Jesus  Christ  and  Him   cru- 
cified. 

Some  time  after  this  the  Ebenezer  Baptist 
Church  called  a  conference  to  consider  the  situa- 
tion and  to  see  if  matters  could  not  be  adjusted. 
Jasper  was  an  ardent  believer  in  the  independ 
ence  of  the  individual  Baptist  church,  and  he 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  that  conference. 
He  refused  to  go,  saying  that  he  did  not  recog- 
nize the  authority  of  the  church  to  interfere  with 
him.  Thereupon  they  sent  a  committee  to  him 
inviting  him  to  come  and  make  any  statement 
that  he  wished  to  make  concerning  the  question 
at  issue. 

He  went.  The  point  in  the  published  letter 
concerning  Jasper  that  was  most  offensive  to  him 
was  the  statement  as  to  "  base  fabrication." 
That  hit  him  between  the  joints  of  the  harness. 
His  soul  was  stirred  with  a  furious  resentment, 
and  when  he  got  before  that  council  and  fell 
afoul  of  the  three  men  who  had  charged  him  with 
"  a  base  fabrication  "  it  was  a  day  not  to  be  for- 
gotten. When  he  had  got  through  it  would  be 
hard  to  say  how  many  baskets  would  have  been 
required  to  hold  the  fragments.  The  man  who 
had  really  written  the  letter  suddenly  discovered 
that  it  had  no  reference  on  the  earth  to  Brother 
Jasper.  It  was  intended  to  answer  something 
that  had  been  said  in  a  paper  in  New  York.  At- 
tempts were  made  to  refresh  his  memory.  Quite 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  103 

a  respectable  minister  reminded  this  letter  writer 
that  they  had  talked  together  concerning  this 
letter,  and  that  the  attention  of  the  writer  was 
called  to  the  "  base  fabrication "  part  of  it,  but 
the  memory  of  the  brother  could  not  be  revived. 
No  stimulant  could  reach  the  case.  Other  folks 
might  charge  Brother  Jasper  with  base  fabrica- 
tion, but  not  this  man.  It  was  a  lamentable  and 
discreditable  conclusion.  He  was  crippled  in 
both  feet  and  respected  by  none.  This  ended 
the  matter.  Jasper  strode  away  from  the  coun- 
cil with  the  marks  of  victory  about  him ;  and 
while  bad  feeling  could  not  die  at  once,  yet  the 
attacks  on  Jasper  went  entirely  out  of  fashion. 
Let  it  be  added  that  there  were  multitudes  who 
shared  the  prejudice  against  this  old  warrior,  but 
little  cared  he.  On  he  went  his  fine  way,  grow- 
ing in  nobleness,  and  loving  the  God  in  whom 
he  believed. 

Jasper's  pleasures  were  of  the  meditative  sort. 
For  a  long  time  his  church  gave  him  an  ample 
vacation  in  the  summer.  He  retired  to  the  coun- 
try and  courted  its  quiet.  His  only  sport  was 
fishing  along  the  streams,  and  that  suited  his 
task.  If  the  fish  didn't  bite,  his  thoughts  always 
did.  Like  the  fish  they  ran  in  schools,  but  unlike 
the  fish  they  ran  in  all  weathers  and  in  all  seasons. 
But  Jasper  never  achieved  marked  success  in  the 
art  of  recreation.  Go  where  he  might,  his  fame 
was  there  to  confront  and  to  entangle  him.  De- 


104  JOHN  JASPER 

mands  for  him  to  oreach  always  came  in  hot  and 
thick,  and  there  was  hardly  a  Sunday  when 
Jasper  was  in  the  country  that  he  was  not  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  and  preaching  with  ever- 
glowing  fervour  and  delight  Indeed,  Jasper  was 
sought  after  to  dedicate  churches,  deliver  lectures 
and  to  preach  special  sermons  in  every  part  of 
Virginia,  and  often  beyond  it.  It  was  said  that 
he  preached  in  almost  every  county  and  city  in 
Virginia.  He  was  the  one  ever  sought  Virginia 
preacher,  and  in  that  respect  he  stood  unmatched 
by  any  man  of  his  race. 

As  a  rule,  Jasper  did  not  preach  very  long  ser- 
mons. His  Sunday  afternoon  sermons  very 
rarely  exceeded  fifty  minutes  in  length,  but  on 
extraordinary  occasions  he  took  no  note  of  time. 
Jasper  was  not  a  sermon-maker.  He  did  not 
write  them,  and  homiletics  was  a  thing  of  which 
he  had  never  heard.  He  was  fond  of  pictorial 
preaching  and  often  selected  historical  topics,  such 
as  "  Joseph  and  His  Brethren  "  or  "  Daniel  in  the 
Lion's  Den,"  or  "  The  Raising  of  Lazarus."  He 
had  quite  a  large  stock  of  special  sermons, — ser- 
mons which  had  grown  by  special  use,  and  which 
embodied  the  choicest  creations  of  his  mind. 
These  he  preached  over  and  over  again  and  in  his 
own  pulpit,  and  without  apology  to  anybody. 
But  after  all  the  themes  which  interested  him 
most  profoundly  and  on  which  he  preached  with 
unsurpassed  ardour  and  rapture  were  the  funda- 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  105 

mental  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures.  The  last  ser- 
mon he  ever  preached  was  on  Regeneration  ;  and 
on  many  phases  of  the  Christian  system  he 
preached  with  consummate  ability.  He  believed 
fully  in  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment,  and 
his  description  of  the  fate  of  the  lost  made  the 
unbelieving  quake  with  terror  and  consternation. 
His  preaching  was  of  that  fervid,  startling,  and 
threatening  sort,  well  suited  to  awaken  religious 
anxieties  and  to  bring  the  people  to  a  public  con- 
fession. He  was  his  own  evangelist, — did  chiefly 
the  work  of  bringing  his  congregation  to  repent- 
ance, and  the  growth  of  his  church  consisted  al- 
most entirely  of  the  fruit  of  his  own  ministry. 
His  church  on  the  island  began  with  nine  mem- 
bers, and  it  was  reported  that  there  were  over 
2,000  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  had  uncom- 
mon caution  about  receiving  people  into  his 
church.  He  was  not  willing  to  take  people  to 
count,  and  he  preached  searchingly  to  those  who 
were  thinking  of  applying  for  membership. 

Just  two  little  and  yet  important  things  call  for 
a  place  in  this  chapter.  Jasper  was  an  inexorable 
debt-payer.  The  only  debt  that  he  could  toler- 
ate was  a  church  debt,  and  he  could  ill  tolerate 
that.  The  unsettled  account  of  his  great  new 
church  building  grappled  him  like  a  nightmare. 
It  was  his  burden  in  the  day  and  his  torturing 
dream  at  night.  Even  during  his  dying  days 
the  church  debt  haunted  and  depressed  him,  and 


106  JOHN  JASPER 

loud  among  his  parting  exhortations  was  his  in- 
sistent plea  that  the  church  debt  should  be 
speedily  paid. 

In  his  early  life  Jasper  contracted  the  use  of  to- 
bacco,— as,  indeed,  almost  his  entire  race  did, 
and  he  was  also  quite  free  with  the  use  of  alco- 
holic drinks, — though  never,  so  far  as  is  known, 
to  the  extent  of  intoxication.  No  question  as  to 
his  sobriety  has  ever  ridden  the  air.  But  these 
habits  lingered  with  him  long  after  he  entered 
the  ministry,  and  even  until  he  was  winning 
enviable  and  far-spreading  favour  as  a  preacher. 
So  far  as  known,  these  facts  did  not  becloud  his 
reputation  nor  interfere  with  his  work.  Of 
course,  he  never  entered  a  barroom,  and  never 
drank  convivially,  but  he  kept  liquor  in  his 
house,  and  took  it  as  his  choice  dictated.  But 
gradually  it  worked  itself  into  his  conscience  that 
these  things  were  not  for  the  best,  and  without 
the  least  ostentation  or  even  publicity  he  abso- 
lutely abandoned  the  use  both  of  tobacco  and 
alcoholic  drinks.  He  made  no  parade  about  it, 
and  took  on  no  fanatical  airs.  Just  as  he  thought 
it  was  wrong  to  owe  money  which  he  could  not 
pay  and  therefore  hated  a  debt,  so  he  felt  that 
these  habits,  useless  at  best,  might  really  be 
harmful  to  him  and  to  others,  and  therefore  he 
gave  them  up. 

His  moral  and  religious  ideals  were  very  lofty, 
and  he  lived  up  to  them  to  a  degree  not  true  of 


MONUMENT  OVER  JOHN  JASPER'S  GRAVE 


UNDER  VARIOUS  LIGHTS  107 

many.  Not  long  after  his  death  a  really  mag- 
nificent monument  was  erected  over  his  grave. 
It  was  quite  costly,  and  the  money  for  it  was 
raised  by  his  church  people  and  other  lovers  of 
whom  he  had  legions.  While  he  lived,  legis- 
lators, judges,  governors,  and  many  men  of  emi- 
nent distinction,  went  to  hear  him  preach.  Many 
of  the  most  distinguished  white  ministers  of  the 
country  made  it  a  point  to  go  to  his  church  on 
Sunday  afternoon  whenever  they  were  in  the 
city,  and  he  was  justly  ranked  as  one  of  the  at- 
tractions of  Richmond. 

Now  that  he  has  found  his  grave  not  far  from 
the  site  of  his  church,  and  this  stately  shaft  has 
been  placed  as  a  sentinel  over  his  dust,  multi- 
tudes as  they  come  and  go  will  visit  the  tomb  of 
the  most  original,  masterful,  and  powerful  negro 
preacher  of  the  old  sort  that  this  country  has  ever 
produced. 


XI 

SERMON  :—  THE  STONE   CUT   OUT  OF  THE 

MOUNTAIN 
(Text,  Daniel  2  : 


THIS  rugged  specimen  of  historical  eloquence 
constituted  the  sermon  delivered  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  July  20,  1884.  Jasper  mounted  the 
pulpit  with  the  dash  of  an  athlete  and  tripped 
around  the  platform  during  the  preliminaries  with 
the  air  of  a  racer.  A  sense  of  strength  imparted 
to  his  face  the  triumphant  glow.  A  smile  parted 
his  lips,  and  told  the  secret  of  an  animated  and 
aggressive  courage. 

"  I  Stan's  befo'  you  to-day  on  legs  of  iron  and 
nun  kin  stay  me  from  preachin'  de  Gospil  uv  de 
Lord  Gord.  I  know  well  nuff  dat  de  ole  devul 
is  mad  as  a  tempest  'bout  my  bein'  here  ;  he 
knows  dat  my  call  ter  preach  kums  frum  Gord, 
and  dat's  wat  meks  'im  so  mad  wen  he  sees 
Jasper  'scend  de  pulpit,  fur  he  knows  dat  de 
people  is  gwine  ter  hear  a  messige  straight  frum 
heaven.  I  don't  git  my  sermuns  out  uv  gram- 
mars an'  reterricks,  but  de  Sperrit  uv  de  Lord 
puts  'em  in  my  mind  an'  meks  'em  burn  in  my 
soul." 

His  manner  was  radiant,  courageous,  defiant, 
108 


SERMON  109 

and  was  prophetic  of  one  of  his  greatest  dis- 
courses. 

""  It  hev  always  bin  one  uv  de  ways  uv  Gord 
ter  set  up  men  as  rulers  uv  de  people.  Yer  know 
dat  Gord  ordains  kings  and  rulers  an', — wat 
kinder  bodders  sum  uv  us, — He  don't  always  mek 
it  a  p'int  ter  put  up  good  men.  Yer  know  dat 
our  Lord  giv  Judis  a  place  'mong  de  twelve,  an' 
he  turn'd  out  ter  be  one  uv  de  grandes'  raskils 
under  de  sun. 

"  Jes'  so  Nebukidnezzur  was  pinted  uv  de  Lord 
ter  be  king  uv  Babylon, — dat  same  robbur  dat 
tuk  de  vessuls  out  uv  de  temple  at  Jerusalem  an' 
lugged  'em  away  ter  his  own  country.  Dat  man 
had  wun  uv  de  powerfullest  kingdums  evur 
known  on  dis  flat  earth.  He  ruled  over  many 
countries  and  many  smaller  kingdums,  an'  even 
had  under  his  hands  de  servunts  on  deplantashun 
an'  de  beasts  uv  de  feiF.  He  was  one  uv  dese 
unlimertid  monnuks.  He  axed  nobody  no 
odds,  an'  did  jes'  wat  he  wanted  ter  do,  an'  I  kin- 
not  stop  ter  tell  yer  wid  wat  a  strong  hand  an' 
outstretched  arm  he  ruled  de  people  wid  an  irun 
rod.  It  kum  ter  pass  dat  one  time  dis  king  dat 
did  not  fear  Gord  (tho'  Gord  had  sot  him  up), 
had  a  dream.  Dreams  iz  awfully  curus  things. 
Dey  used  ter  frighten  folks  out'n  dere  senses  an' 
I  tell  yer  dey  sometimes  frighten  folks  now. 
I've  had  many  dreams  in  my  day  dat  got 
mity  close  ter  me.  Dey  gravuled  inter  de  very 


110  JOHN  JASPER 

cords  uv  my  soul,  an'  made  me  feel  lik  de 
groun'  under  my  feet  wuz  libul  ter  giv  way  any 
time,  an'  I  don't  dout  dat  hundreds  uv  yer  dat 
hear  me  now  hev  bin  frightened  an'  cud  not  eat 
nor  sleep  nor  wuk  wid  any  peace  'caus'  yer  done 
hev  strange  dreams.  Yer  better  watch  dem 
dreams.  In  de  anshient  days  de  Lord  spoke  ter 
folks  in  dreams.  He  warned  dem,  an'  I  don't 
dout  dat  He  duz  dat  way  sometimes  now. 

"  Neberkidnezzur's  dream  stirred  him  powerful. 
He  rolled  all  night  an'  did  not  sleep  a  wink.  So 
he  sent  out  an'  got  de  magishuns  an'  de  strolgurs 
an'  de  sorserers  an'  de  Kaldeuns,  an'  dey  wuz 
brought  unter  him.  He  tell  'em  dat  he  had 
dreamed  a  dream  dat  had  trubbled  his  sperrit. 
An'  de  Kaldeuns  axed  him  wat  de  dream  wuz. 
De  king  say  dat  de  dream  done  gone  clear  out'n 
him,  an'  he  can't  cotch  de  straight  uv  it  ter  save 
his  soul.  He  tell  'em,  moreovur,  dat  dey  got  ter 
dig  up  de  dream  an'  work  up  de  meanin'  too,  an' 
dat  ef  dey  don't  dat  he  gwine  ter  have  'em  cut 
all  ter  pieces  an'  turn  dere  houses  inter  a  dung- 
hill, an'  den  he  tell  'em  dat  ef  dey  will  git  de 
dream  back  fur  him  an'  give  de  explernashun  he 
gwine  ter  give  'em  nice  gifs  an'  put  gret  honurs 
on  'em.  It  waz  too  much  fer  de  Kaldeuns. 
Dey  cudn't  dream  de  king's  dream  fer  'im,  an* 
dey  kum  squar  out  an'  tell  Nebukidnezzur  dat  no 
man  on  de  earth  cud  show  sich  a  matter  ter  de 
king,  an'  dat  in  dere  erpinyun  dar  is  no  king  on 


SERMON  1H 

de  earth  dat  wud  ax  fer  sich  a  thing  frum  proffit 
or  magishun. 

"  Den  Nebukidnezzur  got  high.  He  went  on  a 
tare  an'  yer  know  wen  a  king  gits  mad  yer  bet- 
ter git  out  er  his  way.  He  is  got  de  power ;  an' 
so  he  up  an'  sent  out  a  decree  through  all  de 
regiuns  uv  de  kingdom  dat  all  de  wise  men 
everywhar  shud  be  slain.  Jes*  see  wat  a  mad 
man  will  do  wen  he  git  furius  mad.  Dey  got 
no  mo'  sens  dan  a  mad  tiger  or  a  roarin'  lion. 
Jes'  befo'  de  slaughter  uv  de  wise  men  kum  on, 
Daniel  hear  'bout  it,  an'  he  axed  de  king's  cap- 
tin  wat  it  wuz  all  'bout  an'  why  de  king  wuz  so 
hasty,  an'  de  captin  tol'  Dan'l  all  'bout  it.  Dan'l 
brushed  hissef  up  quick  and  struck  out  to  see  de 
king  an'  ax  him  ter  hoi'  up  de  exercushun  uv  his 
bloody  profesy,  an'  he'd  promise  to  splain  his 
dream  ter  him.  Den  Dan'l  goes  off  an'  gits" all 
his  Godly  frien's  togedder  an'  ax  'em  ter  pray 
ter  de  Gord  uv  heaven  dat  he  an'  his  frien's  shucj 
not  perish  in  de  slaughter  uv  de  tricksters  uv 
dat  country.  One  thing  de  Lord  can't  do  ; — He 
can't  refuse  ter  answer  de  cries  uv  His  people  ;  an* 
wen  all  dat  prayin'  wuz  gwine  on  Gord  appeared 
to  Dan'l  in  de  nite  an'  revealed  ter  him  de 
secret  uv  de  king, — an'  wat  yer  reckin  ?  Wen 
de  Lord  giv  Dan'l  dat  dream  an'  de  hinterperta- 
shun  dar  of,  Dan'l  raised  a  gret  shout  an'  giv 
thanks  to  Gord  for  wat  de  Lord  had  done  fer 
him.  But  he  didn't  shout  long,  fer  he  had  im- 


112  JOHN  JASPER 

portant  bisnis  ter  attend  ter ;  an'  very  soon  he 
went  ter  de  king  an*  kerried  wid  him  de  secrit 
dat  de  king  had  demandid  at  de  han's  uv  de 
erstrolgers  an'  magishuns.  He  told  de  king  rite 
ter  his  face  de  thing  dat  he  had  dreamed,  an* 
wat  Gord  meant  by  it.  Truly  Dan'l  did  behave 
hissef  befo'  de  king  in  a  very  pretty  an'  becomin' 
manner.  He  tel  de  king  he  did  not  hav  no  mo 
sens  dan  udder  people,  an'  dat  he  wuz  not  per- 
par'd  to  do  things  dat  udder  men  cud  do,  but 
dat  it  wuz  by  de  power  uv  Gord  dat  all  dis  mat- 
ter had  bin  made  known  ter  him.  He  tol'  de 
king  dat  wat  he  saw  wuz  a  gret  imige ;  dat  de 
imige  wuz  brite  an'  splendid  an'  de  form  uv  it 
wuz  terrerbul ;  dat  de  hed  wuz  uv  fine  gold,  his 
brest  and  arms  uv  silvur,  his  belly  an'  thize  uv 
brass,  an'  his  legs  uv  irun  and  his  feet  part  uv 
irun  an'  part  uv  clay.  An'  he  tel  de  king  f udder 
dat  he  saw  er  stone  dat  wuz  cut  widout  han's 
out'n  de  mountin  an'  dat  de  stone  smote  de 
imige  erpun  his  feet  an'  broke  'em  in  pieces,  an' 
dat  de  stone  dat  brok  de  imige  became  a  gret 
mountin  an'  filled  all  de  wurl'.  Den  Dan'l, — 
dat  brave  an'  feerles  bruther,  dat  nevur  quailed 
befo'  de  mitiest  ruler  uv  de  earth, — faced  de 
king  an'  tel  'im  an  orful  an'  a  warnin'  troof. 
He  say  ter  'im,  '  Yer  is  a  gret  king  now.  Yer 
hav  er  mity  country  an'  all  power,  an'  thy  glory 
civers  de  groun'.  Man  an'  beas'  an'  foul  obey 
yer.  Yer  iz  de  hed  uv  gold,  but  arter  yer 


SERMON  113 

will  kum  anudder  kingdum  dat  shall  not  be  lik 
yourn,  but  still  it  shal  be  big  an'  dar  shall  kum 
anudder  kingdum  and  dar  shall  be  a  fo'th  king- 
dom strong  as  irun,  an'  dis  kingdum  shall  brooz 
an'  smash  all  de  udder  kingdums.' 

"  An'  den  Dan'l  gits  ter  de  big  pint.  He  tels 
de  king  dat  de  Lord  is  gwine  ter  set  up  er  king- 
dum an'  dat  in  de  times  ter  kum  dat  kingdum 
shall  crush  an'  cornsume  all  de  udder  kingdums. 
Dat  shall  be  de  kingdum  uv  Gord  on  de  earth, 
an'  dat  kingdum  shall  stan'  fer  evur  an'  evur. 
You  knows  how  yer  saw  de  stone  dat  wuz 
cut  lut'n  de  mountin  an'  how  dat  broke  in 
pi  ~ts  de  irun,  de  bras,  de  clay,  de  silvur,  an'  de 
gOii,  an'  my  Gord  hev  made  known  ter  you,  O 
king,  wat  shall  tek  place  in  de  gret  herearter, 
and  dis  is  de  dream  an'  de  hinterpertashun  dar 
of. 

"  Dat  wuz  a  mity  sermon  dat  Dan'l  preached 
ter  Nebukidnezzur.  It  ort  ter  hev  saved  'im,  but 
it  look  lik  it  med  'im  wuss.  De  debbul  got  'im 
fer  dat  time  an'  he  turn  rite  agin  de  Lord  Gord 
an'  sot  at  nort  His  stashutes  an'  countid  His  ways 
onholy. 

"  Yer  know  'bout  dat  imige.  It  wuz  med  uv 
gold,  an'  wuz  threescore  cubits  high  and  six 
cubits  wide,  an'  twuz  sot  up  in  de  plain  uv  Durer, 
not  fer  frum  Bablun.  Yer  know  er  cubit  is  about 
eighteen  inchis,  an'  ef  yer  multerply  dat  by  three- 
score cubits  yer  git  1080  inches,  wich  mean  dat  de 


114  JOHN  JASPER 

imige  wuz  ninety  foot  high  an'  nine  feet  broad. 
So  yer  see  Nebukidnezzur  got  ter  be  a  Gord- 
makur,  an'  wen  he  got  dis  gret  imige  bilt  he  sont 
out  ter  git  all  de  princis  an'  guvnurs  an'  all  de 
res'  uv  de  swell  folks  ter  kum  an'  bow  down  an' 
wurshep  dat  gret  imige  dat  he  had  sot  up.  Now 
dis  wuz  de  gret  folly  an'  shame  uv  de  king.  By 
dat  deed  he  defied  de  Lord  Gord  an'  de  raff  uv 
de  Lord  wuz  stirr'd  agin  'im. 

"  An'  now,  my  brudderin,  yer  member  Dan'l 
toP  de  king  dat  de  imige  dat  he  saw  in  his  dream 
wuz  'imsef  rulin'  over  all  de  udder  kingdums. 
He  tol'  'im  also  dat  dat  stone  dat  wuz  cut  o  ;t  uv 
de  mountin  an'  kum  rollin*  down  de  crv  ?y 
sides  an'  broke  in  pieces  de  irun,  de  brass  ar  de 
clay,  dat  dat  wuz  de  kingdum  uv  de  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  An'  he  tel  'im,  fuddermo,  dat  de  kum- 
min'  uv  de  stone  ter  be  a  great  mountin  means  de 
growth  uv  de  kingdum  uv  our  Lord  tel  it  shall 
fil  dis  wurP  an'  shall  triumf  over  all  de  udder 
kingdums.  Dan'l  tel  de  king  dat  his  kingdum 
wuz  gwine  ter  be  taken  frum  him,  'caus'  he  had 
not  feared  de  Gord  uv  heaven,  an'  in  his  folly  an' 
crimes  he  turned  away  frum  dat  Gord  dat  rules 
in  de  heaven  an'  hols  de  nashuns  uv  de  earth  in 
de  pams  uv  His  han's.  He  tol'  'im  dat  de  king- 
dum uv  Satun,  dat  arch  ennimy  uv  Gord,  wuz 
gwine  ter  tumbul  flat,  'caus'  dat  stone  cut  out  uv 
de  mountin  wud  roll  over  Satun's  derminyuns  an' 
crush  it  in  ter  flinders. 


SERMON  115 

"  Glory  ter  Gord  in  de  highis' ;  dat  stone  cut 
out  uv  de  mountin  is  a  mity  roller.  Nuthin  kin 
stay  its  terribul  progris  !  Dey  dat  fite  erginst  Jer- 
hover  had  bettur  look  out, — dat  stone  is  still 
rollin*  an'  de  fust  thing  dey  know  it  will  crush 
down  erpon  'em  an'  dey  will  sink  ter  rise  no  mo'. 
Our  Gord  is  er  cornsumin'  fire,  an'  He  will  over- 
turn an'  overturn  tel  de  foundashuns  uv  sin  iz 
brokin  up.  Yer  jes'  wait  er  little.  De  time  is 
fas'  rollin'  on.  Evun  now  I  hear  my  Saviour  sayin' 
ter  His  Father, '  Father,  I  kin  stay  here  no  longer ; 
I  mus'  git  up  dis  mornin' ;  I  am  gwine  out 
ter  call  My  people  frum  de  fell' ;  dey  hav  ben 
abused  and  laughed  at  an'  bin  med  a  scomn'  long 
nuff  fer  My  name's  sake.  I  kin  stay  no  longer. 
My  soul  cries  fer  My  chillun.  Gabrul,  git  down 
yer  trumpit  dis  mornin'  ;  I  want  yer  ter  do  some 
blowin'.  Blow  gently  an'  easy  at  fust,  but  let  My 
people  hear  your  goldin  notes.  Dey  will  kum 
wen  I  call.' 

"  Ah,  my  brutherin,  you  an'  I  wil  be  dar  wen 
dat  trumpit  soun's.  I  don'  think  I  shall  be  er- 
larm'd,  'caus'  I  shall  know  it  iz  my  king  marshal- 
lin'  His  people  home.  It  won't  frighten  you  my 
sisters ;  it  will  hev  de  sweetnis  uv  Jesus  vois  ter 
yer;  an',  oh,  how  it  will  ring  out  dat  happy 
mornin'  wen  our  king  shall  kum  to  gather  de 
ransomed  uv  de  Lord  ter  'imsef.  Den  yer  shall 
hev  a  new  an'  holy  body,  an*  wid  it  your  glori- 
fied sperrit  shall  be  united,  an'  on  dat  day  we 


116  JOHN  JASPER 

shall  go  in  ter  see  de  Father  an'  He  shall  smile 
an'  say :  '  Dese  iz  My  chillun ;  dey  hav  washed 
dere  robes  and  made  dem  white  in  de  blood  uv 
de  Lamb ;  dey  hav  kum  out  uv  gret  tribberla- 
shun  an'  dey  shall  be  wid  Me  for  ever  an*  ever.' 
I  speck  ter  be  dar. 

" '  Well,  Jasper/  yer  say, *  why  yer  spec  ter  be 
dar.  How  yer  know?'  Yer  read  de  foteenth 
chapter  uv  John,  will  yer?  '  I  go  ter  prepar  er 
place  fer  yer,'  an'  dat  word  is  ter  rule ;  an'  so 
yer  will  see  ole  John  Jasper  rite  dar,  an'  King 
Jesus  shall  kum  out  ter  meet  us  an'  tek  us  in  an' 
sho'  us  de  manshuns  dat  He  hav  prepared  fer 
us. 

"  O  Lusifer  how  thou  hav  fallin  1  You  proud 
ones  will  find  den  dat  your  days  iz  over,  an'  ye 
dat  hav  despised  de  chillun  uv  my  Gord  wil  sink 
down  inter  hell,  jes'  as  low  es  it  is  posserbul  ter 
git  Yer  needn't  tel  'im  dat  yer  hev  preached  in 
His  name,  an'  in  His  name  done  many  won- 
derful works,  Yer  can't  fool  Him !  He'll  frown 
down  at  yer  an'  say :  I  don't  know  yer,  an'  I 
don't  wan  ter  know  yer,  an'  I  don'  wan  ter 
see  yer.  Git  out  uv  My  site  forever,  an'  go 
ter  your  place  ermong  de  lost 

"  Ah,  truly,  it  is  a  mity  stone,  bin  rollin'  all 
dese  senshuriz,  rollin'  to-day.  May  it  roll  through 
the  kingdum  uv  darknis  and  crush  de  enemis  uv 
Gord.  Dat  stone  done  got  so  big  dat  it  is  higher 
dan  heav'n,  broader  dan  de  earth,  and  deeper 


SERMON  117 

dan  hell  hitsef.  But  don't  be  deceived.  Don't 
think  dat  I  don'  let  yer  off.  I  got  somethin'  more 
fer  yer  yit 

"  Yer  member  Dan'l  and  Shadrick,  Meeshick  an' 
Erbedniggo.  Dey  all  stubbonly  fused  to  bow 
down  ter  Nebukidnezzur's  golden  imige.  Dey 
stood  straight  up.  Dey  wudn't  bend  a  knee  nor 
cruk  a  toe,  an'  dem  Kaldeeuns  wuz  waatchin'  um. 
Dat's  de  way  hit  always  iz ;  de  debbul's  folks  iz  al- 
ways er  watchin'  us  an'  tryin'  ter  git  sumthin'  on 
us  an'  ter  git  us  inter  trubbul  an'  wid  too  many 
uv  us  dey  succeed.  Dey  saw  dat  Dan'l  an'  his 
friens  wud  not  git  down  lik  dey  dun,  an'  up  dey 
jumped  an'  away  dey  cut  an'  kum  ter  de  king. 

" '  Oh,  king,  liv  ferevur,'  dey  say.  '  Yer  know, 
O  king,  wat  yer  sed, — dat  dercree  dat  yer  made, 
dat  at  de  soun'  uv  de  kornit,  de  flute,  de  harp,  de 
sackbut,  de  saltry  an'  de  dulsermur  an'  orl  kinea 
uv  musik,  dat  ev'ry  body  shud  fall  down  an' 
wurshep  de  goldin  imige,  an'  dat  dose  dat  duz 
not  fall  down  an'  worshep  shud  be  put  in  de  fur- 
nis  ;  an'  now,  oh,  king,  dey  say  dat  a  lot  uv  dose 
men  dun  refews.  Dey  doan  regard  yer.  Dey 
hate  yer  Gods  an'  spize  de  imige  dat  yer  sot  up.' 

"  Coarse  de  ole  king  got  mad  agin  an'  in  his 
fury  dey  brought  dese  three  befo'  him.  He  axed 
um  ef  wat  he  had  heerd  'bout  um  wuz  so, — 
'bout  dere  not  worsheppin'  de  goldin  knige. 
'  Mayby  yer  med  a  mistake,'  de  king  say,  4  but 
we  gwine  ter  hev  it  ovur  agin,  an'  ef  wen  de  ban' 


113  JOHN  JASPER 

strikes  up  nex'  time  yer  will  git  down  an'  wor- 
shep  it'll  go  eezy  wid  yer,  an'  ef  yer  doant  de 
fires  in  de  furnis  will  be  startid  quick  es  litenin' 
an'  inter  it  ev'ry  one  uv  yer  shall  go.' 

"  Dese  wuz  yung  men,  but,  ah,  I  tel  yer,  dey 
wuz  uv  de  loyul  stock.  Dey  wuz  jes'  es  kam  es 
sunrise  in  de  mornin'.  Dey  sed  :  '  Oh,  king,  we 
ain'  keerful  ter  anser  'bout  dis  mattur.  Ef  yer 
lik  ter  cas'  us  inter  de  furnis,  our  Gord  dat  we 
surv  iz  abul  ter  git  us  out.  We  ain'  gwine  ter 
bow,  an'  we  nevur  will  bow  ter  your  Gord,  an' 
yer  jes'  es  well  understan'.' 

"  Rite  den  de  men  went  ter  heet  up  de  furnis. 
Dey  wuz  tol'  ter  heet  it  up  sevun  times  hottur 
dan  wuz  de  ginrul  rule  an'  dey  hed  sum  jiunts 
ter  tie  Shedrak,  Meeshik,  an'  Erbedniggo,  an' 
dey  tuk  de  yung  men  away  inter  de  furnis.  De 
heet  wuz  so  terribul  dat  de  flames  shot  out  an' 
sot  fire  ter  de  men  dat  had  put  de  Hebru  chillun 
in  an'  de  po'  retchiz  wuz  burn'd  up,  but  not  a 
hair  uv  de  three  yung  men  wuz  sing'd,  an'  dey 
kum  out  er  smilin'  an'  not  a  blistur  on  um  frum 
hed  ter  fut.  Dey  did  not  evun  hev  any  smell  uv 
fire  'bout  dere  pussuns,  an'  dey  luk  jes'  lik  dey 
jes'  kum  out  uv  dressin'  rums. 

"  Neberkidnezzur  wuz  dar,  an'  he  say :  '  Luk 
in  dat  furnis  dar.  We  didn't  put  but  three  pus- 
sons  in  dar,  did  we  ? '  an'  dey  tol'  'im  dat  wuz 
so.  Den  he  tun  pale  an*  luk  skeered  lik  he 
gwine  ter  die  an'  he  say  : 


SERMON  119 

" 4  Luk  dar ;  I  see  fo'  men  inside  an*  walkin' 
through  de  fire,  an'  de  form  uv  de  fourth  is  lik 
de  Son  uv  Gord,'  an'  it  luk  lik  de  king  got  kun- 
vurtid  dat  day,  fur  he  lif  up  his  vois  an'  shout 
de  praiz  uv  de  Gord  uv  Shedrak,  Meeshik  an' 
Erbedniggo. 

"  Ah,  gret  iz  dis  story ;  dey  dat  trus'  in  Gord 
shall  nevur  be  put  ter  kornfushun.  De  righteous 
alwaz  kums  out  konkerurs  an'  more  dan  kon- 
kerurs.  Kings  may  hate  yer,  frien's  spize  yer,  an' 
cowurds  bakbite  yer,  but  Gord  iz  yer  durlivrur. 

"  But  I  dun  forgit.  Dis  ole  time  rerlijun  iz 
not  gud  nuff  fer  sum  folks  in  dese  las'  days.  Sum 
call  dis  kine  uv  talk  foolishnis,  but  hif  dat  be  troo 
den  de  Bibul,  an'  hevun,  an'  dese  Christun's 
hearts,  iz  ful  uv  dat  kine  uv  foolishnis.  Ef  dis 
be  ole  fogy  rerlijun,  den  I  want  my  church 
crowdid  wid  ole  fogiz. 

"  Wat  did  John  see  ober  dar  in  Patmos  ?  He 
say  he  saw  de  fo'  an'  twenty  eldurs  seatid  roun' 
de  throne  uv  Gord  an'  castin'  dere  glittrin'  crowns 
uv  gold  at  de  feet  uv  King  Jesus,  an'  he  say  dat 
out  uv  de  throne  kum  lightnin'  an'  thundurs 
an'  voicis  an'  de  sevun  lamps  burnin'  befo'  de 
throne  uv  Gord.  An'  dar  befo'  de  throne  wuz 
de  sea  uv  glass,  an'  roun'  'bout  de  throne  wuz 
de  fo'  livin'  creaturs  ful  uv  eyes  befo'  an'  be- 
hine,  an'  dey  nevur  cea*>  cryin'  :  '  Holy,  Holy, 
Holy,  iz  de  Lord  Gord  almity  dat  died  ter  tek 
away  de  sins  uv  de  wurl'  ! ' 


130  JOHN  JASPER 

"Yer  call  dat  ole  fogy.  Jes'  luk  away  ober 
yondur  in  de  future.  Duz  yer  see  dat  sea  uv 
glass  an'  de  saints  uv  Gord  dat  wuz  all  bruised 
an1  mangul'd  by  de  fi'ry  darts  uv  de  wickid. 
I  hear  um  singin'  !  Wat  iz  dere  song?  Oh, 
how  it  rolls !  an'  de  korus  iz  :  '  Redeemed,  re- 
deemed, wash'd  in  de  blud  uv  de  Lam'.  Call 
dem  ole  fogiz,  do  yer  ?  Wei  yer  may,  fer  dey 
iz  bin  doin'  dat  way  frum  de  time  dat  Abel,  de 
fust  man,  a  saved  soul  told  de  news  uv  salvashun 
ter  de  anjuls. 

" '  Wei,  Jasper,  hev  yer  got  any  rerlijun  ter 
giv  way  ? ' 

"  I'se  free  ter  say  dat  I  ain't  got  es  much  es  I 
want.  Fur  forty-five  years  I  bin  beggin'  fur 
mo',  an'  I  ax  fur  mo'  in  dis  tryin'  hour.  But, 
bless  Gord,  I's  got  rerlijun  ter  giv  way.  De 
Lord  hev  fil'd  my  hands  wid  de  Gorspil,  an'  I 
stan'  here  ter  offur  free  salvashun  ter  any  dat 
wii  kum.  Ef  in  dis  big  crowd  dar  iz  one  lost 
sinnur  dat  hev  not  felt  de  klinsin'  tech  uv  my 
Saviur's  blud,  I  ax  'im  ter  kum  terday  an'  he 
shall  nevur  die." 


XII 

FACTS  CONCERNING  THE  SERMON 
ON  THE  SUN 

LET  me  say  in  frankness  that  when  I  originally 
began  this  appreciation  of  John  Jasper  it  was 
my  full  purpose  to  omit  from  it  all  reference  to 
his  very  notorious  sermon  on  "The  Sun  Do 
Move."  That  was  the  one  thing  in  his  life  I 
most  regretted — an  episode  that  I  was  quite 
willing  to  commit  to  oblivion.  I  felt  that  it 
was  a  distinct  discredit  to  him.  But  upon  further 
reflection  I  have  concluded  that  the  omission 
might  hurt  him  far  more  than  the  facts  in  the 
case  possibly  could.  Inasmuch  also  as  it  was 
that  very  sermon  which  drew  to  him  such  wide- 
spread attention,  and  since  there  are  those  who 
never  heard  him,  nor  heard  of  him  except  in  con- 
nection with  that  sermon,  I  have  decided  to 
give  the  public  the  facts  in  the  case  and  the 
sermon  itself.  In  this  chapter  I  will  give  a 
history  of  the  sermon,  and  in  the  next  I  will  give 
the  substance  of  the  sermon.  It  is  due  to  my 
old  friend  and  brother,  Jasper,  to  say  that  he 
really  never  intended  to  create  a  sensation  by 
preaching  on  an  exciting  or  unusual  topic.  This 

121 


122  JOHN  JASPER 

he  most  solemnly  declared,  and  while  he  was 
several  sensations  himself  in  a  single  bunch,  and 
while  almost  every  sermon  that  he  preached 
produced  wild  and  thrilling  sensations,  he  did 
not  work  for  that  He  started  his  chief  sen- 
sations by  preaching  the  Gospel  in  such  a  hot, 
pungent,  and  overmastering  way  that  his  people 
could  not  contain  themselves.  Jasper  tells  us 
how  it  all  came  about.  Two  of  his  brethren, 
members  of  his  flock,  fell  into  a  friendly  dispute 
as  to  whether  the  sun  did  revolve  around  the 
earth  or  not.  As  they  could  not  decide  the 
question,  and  neither  would  yield,  they  finally 
agreed  to  submit  the  question  to  their  old  pastor, 
solemnly  believing,  I  dare  say,  that  there  was 
no  mystery  in  earth,  sea,  or  sky  that  he  could 
not  fathom. 

When  Jasper's  theme  went  abroad  it  called 
forth  some  very  scornful  criticisms  from  one  of 
his  Baptist  neighbours — one  of  the  "  eddicatid 
preachers,"  as  Jasper  delighted  to  call  them, 
though  in  certain  moods  he  often  finished  his 
sentence  by  branding  them  as  eddicatid  fools. 
When  he  heard  of  the  strictures  mentioned 
above,  he  let  fly  some  shot  at  white  heat  as  a 
response  to  the  attacks  on  him.  When  he  got  a 
thing  in  his  blood  the  amenities  of  controversy 
sometimes  lost  their  place  in  his  memory.  He 
'vould  let  fly  flings  of  satire  that  would  be  tooth- 
\>me  topics  for  street  gossip  for  many  summer 


SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  123 

Sundays.  Things  for  zestful  chat  rarely  ran 
short  when  Jasper  was  about.  He  expressed 
much  regret  that  he  had  come  in  conflict  with 
the  "  furlosofurs "  of  the  day,  freely  confessing 
his  ignorance  in  the  matter  of  "  book-larnin'." 
His  knowledge,  he  said,  was  limited  to  the  Bible, 
and  much  of  that  he  did  not  feel  that  he  could 
explain.  But  on  the  question  about  the  sun  he 
was  sure  that  he  possessed  the  true  light.  "  I 
knows  de  way  uv  de  sun,  as  de  Wurd  of  Gord 
tells  me,"  he  declared  in  his  warlike  manner, 
"  an'  ef  I  don'  pruv'  dat  de  sun  moves  den  yer 
may  pos'  me  as  er  Her  on  ev'ry  street  in  Rich- 
mun'."  By  this  time  his  war  paint  was  plainly 
visible,  and  his  noble  defiance  rang  out  like  a 
battle  call. 

The  occasion  on  which  I  heard  his  "astro- 
nomical sermon,"  as  one  of  his  opponents  derid- 
ingly  dubbed  it,  was  not  at  its  first  presentation. 
He  had  delivered  it  repeatedly  before  and  knew 
his  ground.  The  gleam  of  confidence  and  victory 
shone  clear  and  strong  on  his  face. 

The  audience  looked  like  a  small  nation.  Long 
before  the  solemn  janitor,  proud  of  his  place, 
strict  to  the  minute,  swung  open  the  front  doors, 
the  adjacent  streets  swarmed  with  the  eager 
throngs.  Instantly  there  was  a  rush,  and  in 
surged  the  people,  each  anxious  to  get  a  seat 
The  spacious  house  was  utterly  inadequate  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  hour.  Many  crowded  the 


134  JOHN  JASPER 

aisles,  disposed  themselves  around  the  pulpit, 
sat  on  pew-arms,  or  in  friendly  laps. 

Jasper's  entrance  was  quite  picturesque.  He 
appeared  in  the  long  aisle  wearing  a  cape  over- 
coat, with  a  beaver  in  one  hand,  and  his  cane  in. 
the  other,  and  with  a  dignity  not  entirely  un- 
conscious. His  officers  rose  to  welcome  him, 
one  removing  his  great  coat,  another  his  head 
piece,  and  yet  another  his  cane.  As  he  as- 
cended the  pulpit  he  turned  and  waved  a  happy 
greeting  to  his  charge  and  it  fairly  set  his  emo- 
tional constituents  to  shouting.  Many  loving 
words  were  said  out  in  a  rattling  chorus  in  token 
of  their  happiness  at  seeing  him. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  some  of  Jasper's 
young  people  had  notions  of  their  own  as  to  his 
views  of  the  sun  ;  but  never  a  word  would  they 
let  slip  that  could  mortify  their  beloved  old  pas- 
tor, or  give  a  whisper  of  comfort  to  his  critics. 
They  were  for  Jasper,  and  the  sun  might  go  its 
way.  They  believed  in  their  pastor,  believed  in 
his  goodness,  his  honesty,  and  his  greatness. 

In  the  opening  exercises  there  occurred  several 
characteristic  incidents.  He  requested  his  choir 
to  open  by  singing,  "  The  Heavens  Declare  the 
Glory  of  God."  This  was  at  once  a  proof  of  his 
seriousness  and  of  his  sense  of  the  fitting. 

When  he  arose  to  read  the  Scriptures,  he 
glanced  around  at  his  audience,  and  bowing  in 
pleased  recognition  of  the  many  white  people 


SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  125 

present,  he  said  with  unaffected  modesty  that  he 
hoped  that  the  "  kin'  frens  who'd  come  ter  hur 
me  would  'scuse  my  urrors  in  readin'.  My  eyes 
is  gitting  weak  an'  dim,  and  Fse  slow  in  making 
out  de  hard  wurds."  Then  he  proceeded  with 
utmost  reverence  to  read  the  passage  selected 
for  the  service=  He  was  not  a  good  reader,  but 
there  was  a  sobriety  and  humility  in  his  manner 
of  reading  the  Scriptures  that  made  one  always 
feel  a  peculiar  respect  for  him. 

There  may  be  place  here  for  a  passing  word 
about  this  most  original  and  picturesque  repre- 
sentative of  his  race.  Jasper  had  a  respect  for 
himself  that  was  simply  tremendous.  Uncon- 
sciously he  carried  a  lofty  crest,  and  yet  you 
knew  there  was  no  silly  conceit  in  it.  His  walk 
along  the  street  was  not  that  of  a  little  man  who 
thought  all  eyes  were  upon  him,  but  of  a  giant 
who  would  hide  from  himself  and  from  others  the 
evidences  of  his  power.  His  conversation  carried 
an  assertion  of  seriousness — his  tones  were  full 
of  dignity — his  bearing  seemed  to  forbid  any  un- 
seemly freedom — and  in  public  you  saw  at  once 
that  he  was  holding  himself  up  to  a  high  standard. 
Of  course,  when  he  was  in  the  high  frenzy  of 
public  speech  and  towering  to  his  finest  heights 
he  lost  the  sense  of  himself,  but  he  was  then  riding 
the  wind  and  cleaving  the  sky  and  no  rules  made 
by  men  could  apply  to  him.  But  along  with  self- 
appreciation, — always  one  of  his  attractions  to 


126  JOHN  JASPER 

me, — was  a  noble  and  delicate  respect  for  others. 
He  loved  his  own  people,  and  they  lived  in  the 
pride  of  it,  but  he  had  a  peculiarly  hospitable  and 
winsome  attitude  towards  strangers.  He  was 
quite  free  in  his  cordiality  towards  men,  and  I 
delighted  to  see  how  my  coming  to  hear  him 
pleased  him.  In  his  off-hand  way,  he  said  to  me 
one  Sunday  afternoon  as  he  welcomed  me  to  the 
pulpit :  "  Glad  to  see  you ;  it  does  me  good  to 
have  folks  around  whar  got  sense ;  it  heps  me 
ter  preach  better.  Mighty  tough  to  talk  to  folks 
whar  ain*  got  no  brains  in  de  head." 

He  had  a  double  consciousness  that  was  always 
interesting  to  me.  He  was  always  full  of  solici- 
tude about  his  sermon.  It  lay  a  burden  on  him, 
and  it  required  no  expert  to  discover  it.  He  had 
so  much  sincerity  that  his  heart  told  its  secrets 
through  his  face.  But  think  not  that  this  made 
him  oblivious  to  his  surroundings.  His  heart 
was  up  towards  the  throne,  and  his  soul  was  cry- 
ing for  strength,  but  his  eye  was  open  to  the 
scene  before  him.  The  sight  of  the  audience  in- 
toxicated him ;  the  presence  of  notable  people 
caught  his  gaze  and  gladdened  him ;  tokens  of 
appreciation  cheered  him,  and  he  paid  good 
price  in  the  way  of  smiles  and  glances  to  those 
who  showed  that  he  was  doing  them  good.  It 
made  a  rare  combination — his  concern  for  his 
message,  and  his  happy  pride  in  his  constituents. 
It  gave  a  depth  to  his  feeling  and  a  height  to  his 


SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  127 

exultation.     He  swung  between  two  great  emo- 
tions and  felt  the  enrichment  of  both. 

The  text  for  his  sermon  was  a  long  cry  from  his 
topic.  It  was :  "  The  Lord  God  is  a  man  of  war ; 
The  Lord  is  His  name."  He  was  too  good  a  ser- 
mon-maker to  announce  a  text  and  abandon 
it  entirely,  and  so  he  roamed  the  Old  Testament 
to  gather  illustrations  of  the  all-conquering  power 
of  God.  This  took  him  over  a  half  hour  to 
develop,  and  as  it  took  even  much  longer  to 
formulate  his  argument  as  to  the  rotation  of  the 
sun  it  made  his  sermon  not  only  incongruous, 
but  intolerably  long — far  longer  than  any  other 
sermon  that  I  ever  knew  him  to  preach.  The 
two  parts  of  the  discourse  had  no  special  kinship, 
while  the  first  part  tired  the  people  before  he 
reached  the  thing  they  came  for.  It  was  an  error 
in  judgment,  but  his  power  to  entertain  an  audi- 
ence went  far  to  save  him  from  the  consequences 
of  his  mistake. 

The  intelligent  reader  will  readily  understand 
the  drift  of  his  contention  about  the  sun.  What 
he  said,  of  course,  was  based  on  the  literal  state- 
ments of  the  Old  Testament,  written  many  cen- 
turies ago,  not  as  a  treatise  on  astronomy,  but  in 
language  fitted  to  express  ideas  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  times  in  which  it  was  used.  Jasper 
knew  of  no  later  discoveries  in  the  natural  world, 
and,  therefore,  very  sincerely  believed  with  re 
ligious  sincerity,  and  all  the  dogmatism  of  igno 


128  JOHN  JASPER 

ranee,  that  the  declarations  of  the  old  Scriptures 
were  true  in  very  jot  and  tittle.  It  is  apparent 
enough  that  to  the  enlightened  people  who  went 
to  hear  the  address  merely  for  amusement  there 
was  rare  fun  in  the  whole  performance.  To 
them,  Jasper  was  an  ignorant  old  simpleton,  a 
buffoon  of  the  pulpit,  a  weakling  to  be  laughed 
at.  And  yet  hardly  that.  He  was  so  dead  in 
earnest,  and  withal  so  shrewd  in  stating  his 
case,  so  quick  in  turning  a  point,  and  brimming 
with  such  choice  humour  and  sometimes  flashing 
out  such  keen,  telling  strokes  of  sarcasm,  that  he 
compelled  the  admiration  of  his  coldest  critics. 
To  the  untutored  people  before  him  Jasper  was 
the  apostle  of  light.  They  believed  every  sylla- 
ble that  fell  from  his  lips — he  was  the  truth  to 
them — they  stood  where  other  honest  and  godly 
people  stood  for  ages  and  saw  things  just  as  they 
saw  them.  Their  opinion  as  to  the  sun  did  not 
in  the  least  affect  their  piety,  for,  as  a  fact,  they 
believed  just  exactly  as  the  grandfathers  of  Jas- 
per's critics  believed  sixty  years  before. 

It  was  worth  while  being  there.  Jasper  was  in 
his  most  flexible,  masterful  mood,  and  he  stormed 
the  heights  with  his  forces  in  full  array.  At  times, 
the  negroes  would  be  sending  forth  peals  of 
laughter  and  shouting  in  wildest  response,  "  Yas, 
Lord  :  dat's  so,  Brer  Jasper  ;  hit  'em  ergin,  bless 
God !  Glory,  glory,  tell  us  more,  ole  man  ! " 
Then  he  would  fly  beyond  the  sun  and  give 


SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  129 

them  a  glimpse  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  they 
would  be  crying  and  bursting  forth  with  snatches 
of  song  until  you  would  think  the  end  had  come. 
But  not  so  by  ever  so  much.  A  word  from  Jasper 
would  bring  the  stillness  of  death,  and  he  would 
be  the  master  again  and  ready  for  new  flights. 

When  the  excitement  about  the  sermon  was  at 
its  full  blow,  human  greed,  ever  keen-scented, 
sensed  money  in  Jasper  and  his  sermon,  and  laid 
a  scheme  to  trade  on  the  old  man  and  his  mes- 
sage. A  syndicate  was  formed  to  send  him  .out 
as  a  lecturer,  hoping  that  the  Northern  love  for 
the  negro,  and  the  catchiness  of  the  subject, 
would  fill  vast  halls  with  crowds  to  hear  the  old 
man,  and  turn  in  rich  revenues,  of  which  they 
would  reap  the  larger  part. 

Jasper,  for  reasons  by  no  means  mercenary, 
was  tickled  by  this  new  turn  in  fortune.  He  was 
not  wanting  in  the  pride  of  successful  ambition 
and  this  new  proof  of  his  growing  distinction 
naturally  pleased  him.  Fame  was  pinning  her 
medals  fast  upon  him,  and  he  liked  it.  Not  that 
he  was  infatuated  with  the  notion  of  filling  his 
private  pocket.  As  a  fact,  he  never  uttered  in 
my  hearing  one  sentence  that  showed  his  love  of 
money,  or  his  eagerness  to  get  it.  But  he  was 
much  wedded  to  the  idea  of  a  new  house  of  wor- 
ship for  his  people,  and  any  proper  method  that 
would  aid  in  bringing  this  happy  consummation 
was  joy  to  his  generous  old  soul.  His  heart 


130  JOHN  JASPER 

dwelt  with  his  flock,  and  to  honour  and  cheer 
them  was  life  to  him. 

Of  course,  his  church  fell  in  with  the  idea. 
Anything  to  please  "Brother  Jasper"  was  the 
song  of  their  lives.  It  looked  wonderfully  grand 
to  them  to  see  glory  crowning  their  pastor  and 
gold  pouring  in  to  build  them  a  temple.  It  was 
with  pomp  and  glee  they  sent  him  away.  The 
day  of  his  departure  was  celebrated  with  general 
excitement  and  with  cheering  groups  at  the  train. 

But  in  some  way  providence  did  not  get  iden- 
tified with  the  new  enterprise.  The  first  half  of 
his  sermon  was  a  trial  to  people  set  on  sensation. 
The  Lord  in  his  military  character  did  not  ap- 
peal. Some  actually  retired  after  the  first  part, 
and  an  eclipse  to  hopes  uncounted  fell  over  the 
scene.  Jasper,  as  a  show,  proved  a  failure,  for 
which  the  devout  may  well  give  thanks.  He  got 
as  far  as  Philadelphia,  and  even  that  historically 
languid  city  found  life  too  brief  and  brisk  to 
spend  in  listening  for  ninety-odd  minutes  to  two 
uncongenial  discourses  loosely  bundled  into  one. 
The  old  man  had  left  the  sweet  inspiration  of  his 
demonstrative  church  in  Richmond,  and  felt  a 
chill  of  desolation  when  he  set  foot  on  alien  soil. 
The  tides  of  invisible  seas  fought  against  him, 
empty  benches  grinned  at  him,  and  he  got  home- 
sick. The  caravan  collapsed,  the  outfit  tumbled 
into  anarchy,  the  syndicate  picked  up  the  stage 
clothes  and  stole  out  in  the  night-gloom,  the  u? 


SERMON  ON  THE  SUN  131 

daunted  but  chagrined  Jasper  made  a  straight 
shoot  for  Richmond ;  ever  after  the  Jasper  Lecture 
Bureau  was  a  myth,  without  ancestry  or  posterity. 

Think  not  that  there  was  chill  in  the  air  when 
Jasper  struck  Richmond  on  his  return.  No  word 
of  censure  awaited  him.  His  steadfast  adherents 
hailed  him  as  a  conqueror  and  his  work  went  on. 
His  enemies — an  envious  crop  ever  being  on 
hand — tossed  a  few  stones  over  the  back  fence, 
but  Jasper  had  a  keen  relish  for  battle,  and  was 
finest  when  his  foes  were  the  fiercest.  Antago- 
nism gave  zest  to  his  dramatic  career. 

Permit  the  writer  to  slip  in  here  a  word  as  to 
Jasper's  devotion  to  his  old  master,  Mr.  Samuel 
Hargrove.  I  knew  Mr.  Hargrove  well.  He  was 
a  man  with  a  heart.  I  knew  him  as  an  old  man 
while  I  was  young.  He  had  a  suburban  home 
near  Manchester,  his  business  and  church  were  in 
Richmond.  I  often  saw  him  in  my  congregation 
at  the  Bainbridge  Street  Baptist  church,  Man- 
chester, and  thus  often  met  him.  Shrinking, 
without  public  gifts,  full  of  kindliness,  and  high 
in  his  life,  he  commanded  the  heart  of  his  servant 
who  to  the  last  delighted  to  honour  his  memory. 
Their  relations  did  not  prevent  their  mutual  re- 
spect and  affection.  The  hideous  dogma  of 
social  equality  never  thrust  itself  into  their  life. 
They  had  good-will  and  esteem  one  for  the  other, 
and  lived  together  in  peace.  Jasper  was  a  lover 
and  admirer  of  white  people,  and  delighted  to 


132  JOHN  JASPER 

serve  and  honour  them,  and  in  return  the  white 
people  were  fond  of  him  and  glad  to  help  him. 

I  rejoice  that  this  old  minister,  the  quaint  and 
stern  veteran,  came  in  God's  time  to  a  righteous 
fame.  Public  opinion  is  an  eccentric  and  mys- 
terious judge.  It  has  an  unarticulated  code  for 
fixing  the  rank  and  fate  of  mortals.  It  is  a  large 
and  ill-sorted  jury,  and  its  decisions  often  bring 
surprise  at  the  time,  but  they  never  get  reversed. 
The  jurymen  may  wrangle  during  the  trial,  but 
when  it  emerges  from  the  council  room  and  ren- 
ders the  verdict,  no  higher  court  ever  reverses  its 
final  word. 

Hard  and  adverse  was  the  life  of  Jasper !  For 
years  many  hostile  forces  sought  to  unhorse  and- 
cripple  him.  It  would  require  books  to  hold  the 
slanders  and  scandals  laid  to  his  charge.  The 
archers  used  poisoned  arrows,  and  often  tore  his 
flesh  and  fancied  that  they  had  him,  but  his  bow 
abode  in  strength.  Meanwhile,  the  public,  that 
jury  of  the  many,  sat  still  and  watched,  weighing 
the  evidence,  listening  to  the  prosecutors,  un- 
ravelling conflicting  testimony,  and  feeling  the 
way  to  justice.  In  the  midst  of  it  all,  the  brave 
old  chieftain  died,  while  the  trial  was  yet  going 
on.  The  jury  was  long  silent,  but  it  has  spoken 
at  last,  and  the  verdict  is,  that  the  name  of  this 
veteran  of  the  cross  shall  be  enrolled  among  the 
fearless,  the  faithful,  and  the  immortal.  He  en- 
dured as  seeing  the  invisible  and  now  he  sees. 


XIII 

THE  SUN  DO  MOVE 

IN  presenting  John  Jasper's  celebrated  sermon 
on  "  De  Sun  Do  Move,"  I  beg  to  introduce  it 
with  several  explanatory  words.  As  intimated 
in  a  former  chapter  it  is  of  a  dual  character.  It 
includes  an  extended  discussion,  after  his  peculiar 
fashion,  of  the  text,  "  The  Lord  God  is  a  man  of 
war  ;  the  Lord  is  His  name."  Much  that  he  said 
in  that  part  of  his  sermon  is  omitted,  only  so 
much  being  retained  as  indicates  his  view  of  the 
rotation  of  the  sun.  It  was  really  when  he  came 
into  this  part  of  his  sermon  that  he  showed  to 
such  great  advantage,  even  though  so  manifestly 
in  error  as  to  the  position  which  he  tried  so  man- 
fully to  antagonize.  It  was  of  that  combative 
type  of  public  speech  which  always  put  him  be- 
fore the  people  at  his  best.  I  never  heard  this 
sermon  but  once,  but  I  have  been  amply  aided  in 
reproducing  it  by  an  elaborate  and  altogether 
friendly  report  of  the  sermon  published  at  the 
time  by  The  Richmond  Dispatch.  Jasper  opened 
his  discourse  with  a  tender  reminiscence  and 
quite  an  ingenious  exordium. 

"  Low  me  ter  say,"  he  spoke  with  an  outward 
composure  which  revealed  an  inward  but  mas- 


134  JOHN  JASPER 

tered  swell  of  emotion,  '*jdat  when  I  wuz  a  young 
man  and  a  slave,  I  knowed  nuthin*  wuth  talkin' 
'bout  consarnin'  books.  Dey  wuz  sealed  mys- 
teries ter  me,  but  I  tell  yer  I  longed  ter  break  de 
seal.  I  thusted  fer  de  bread  uv  learnin*.  When 
I  seen  books  I  ached  ter  git  in  ter  urn,  fur  I 
knowed  dat  dey  had  de  stuff  fer  me,  an'  I  wanted 
ter  taste  dere  contents,  but  most  of  de  time  dey 
wuz  bar'd  aginst  me. 

"  By  de  mursy  of  de  Lord  a  thing  happened. 
I  got  er  room-feller — he  wuz  a  slave,  too,  an'  he 
had  learn'd  ter  read.  In  de  dead  uv  de  night  he 
giv  me  lessons  outen  de  New  York  Spellin' 
book.  It  wuz  hard  pullin',  I  tell  yer ;  harder  on 
him,  fur  he  know'd  jes'  a  leetle,  an'  it  made  him 
sweat  ter  try  ter  beat  sumthin'  inter  my  hard 
haid.  It  wuz  wuss  wid  me.  Up  de  hill  ev'ry 
step,  but  when  I  got  de  light  uv  de  less'n  into 
my  noodle  I  farly  shouted,  but  I  kno'd  I  wuz  not 
a  scholur.  De  consequens  wuz  I  crep  'long 
mighty  tejus,  gittin'  a  crum  here  an*  dar  untel  I 
cud  read  de  Bible  by  skippin'  de  long  words, 
tolerable  well.  Dat  wuz  de  start  uv  my  eddica- 
shun — dat  is,  wat  little  I  got.  I  mek  menshun 
uv  dat  young  man.  De  years  hev  fled  erway 
sense  den,  but  I  ain't  furgot  my  teachur,  an' 
nevur  shall.  I  thank  mer  Lord  fur  him,  an'  I 
carries  his  mem'ry  in  my  heart. 

"'Bout  seben  months  after  my  gittin'  ter 
readin',  Gord  cun verted  my  soul,  an*  I  reckin 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  135 

'bout  de  fust  an*  main  thing  dat  I  begged  de 
Lord  ter  give  me  wuz  de  power  ter  und'stan'  His 
Word.  I  am'  braggin',  an'  I  hates  self-praise, 
but  I  boun'  ter  speak  de  thankful  word.  I 
b'lieves  in  mer  heart  dat  mer  pra'r  ter  und' stand 
de  Scripshur  wuz  heard.  Sence  dat  time  I  ain't 
keer'd  'bout  nuthin'  'cept  ter  study  an'  preach 
de  Word  uv  God. 

"  Not,  my  bruthrin,  dat  I'z  de  fool  ter  think  I 
knows  it  all.  Oh,  mer  Father,  no !  Fur  frum 
it.  I  don'  hardly  und'stan  myse'f,  nor  ha'f  uv 
de  things  roun'  me,  an'  dar  is  milyuns  uv  things 
in  de  Bible  too  deep  fur  Jasper,  an'  sum  uv  'em 
too  deep  fur  ev'rybody.  I  doan't  cerry  de  keys 
ter  de  Lord's  closet,  an'  He  ain'  tell  me  ter  peep 
in,  an'  ef  I  did  I'm  so  stupid  I  wouldn't  know  it 
when  I  see  it.  No,  frens,  I  knows  my  place  at 
de  feet  uv  my  Marster,  an'  dar  I  stays. 

"  But  I  kin  read  de  Bible  and  git  de  things 
whar  lay  on  de  top  uv  de  soil.  Out'n  de  Bible  I 
knows  nuthin'  extry  'bout  de  sun.  I  sees  'is 
courses  as  he  rides  up  dar  so  gran'  an'  mighty 
in  de  sky,  but  dar  is  heaps  'bout  dat  flamin'  orb 
dat  is  too  much  fer  me.  I  know  dat  de  sun 
shines  powerfly  an*  po's  down  its  light  in  floods, 
an'  yet  dat  is  nuthin'  compared  wid  de  light  dat 
flashes  in  my  min'  frum  de  pages  of  Gord's 
book.  But  you  knows  all  dat.  I  knows  dat  de 
sun  burns— oh,  how  it  did  burn  in  dem  July 
days.  I  tell  yer  he  cooked  de  skin  on  my  back 


136  JOHN  JASPER 

many  er  day  when  I  wuz  hoein'  in  de  corn  fell'. 
But  you  knows  all  dat,  an'  yet  dat  is  nuthin'  der 
to  de  divine  fire  dat  burns  in  der  souls  uv  Gord's 
chil'n.  Can't  yer  feel  it,  bruthrin  ? 

"  But  'bout  de  courses  uv  de  sun,  I  have  got 
dat.  I  hev  dun  rang'd  thru  de  whole  blessed 
book  an'  scode  down  de  las'  thing  de  Bible  has 
ter  say  'bout  de  movements  uv  de  sun.  I  got 
all  dat  pat  an'  safe.  An'  lemme  say  dat  if  I 
doan't  giv  it  ter  you  straight,  if  I  gits  one  word 
crooked  or  wrong,  you  jes'  holler  out,  '  Hoi'  on 
dar,  Jasper,  yer  ain't  got  dat  straight,'  an'  I'll 
beg  pardon.  If  I  doan't  tell  de  truf,  march  up 
on  dese  steps  here  an'  tell  me  I'z  a  liar,  an'  I'll 
take  it.  I  fears  I  do  lie  sometimes — I'm  so  sin- 
ful, I  find  it  hard  ter  do  right;  but  my  Gord 
doan't  lie  an'  He  ain'  put  no  lie  in  de  Book  uv 
eternal  truf,  an'  if  I  giv  you  wat  de  Bible  say, 
den  I  boun'  ter  tell  de  truf. 

"  I  got  ter  take  yer  all  dis  arternoon  on  er 
skershun  ter  a  great  bat'l  fell'.  Mos'  folks  like 
ter  see  fights — some  is  mighty  fon'  er  gittin' 
inter  fights,  an'  some  is  mighty  quick  ter  run 
down  de  back  alley  when  dar  is  a  bat'l  goin'  on, 
fer  de  right.  Dis  time  I'll  'scort  yer  ter  a  scene 
whar  you  shall  witness  a  curus  bat'l.  It  tuk 
place  soon  arter  Isrel  got  in  de  Promus  Lan'. 
Yer  'member  de  people  uv  Gibyun  mak  frens 
wid  Gord's  people  when  dey  fust  entered  Canum 
an'  dey  wuz  monsus  smart  ter  do  it.  But,  jes'  de 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  137 

same,  it  got  'em  in  ter  an  orful  fuss.  De  cities 
roun'  'bout  dar  flar'd  up  at  dat,  an'  dey  all  jined 
dere  forces  and  say  dey  gwine  ter  mop  de 
Gibyun  people  orf  uv  de  groun',  an*  dey 
bunched  all  dar  armies  tergedder  an'  went  up 
fer  ter  do  it.  Wen  dey  kum  up  so  boF  an' 
brave  de  Giby'nites  wuz  skeer'd  out'n  dere 
senses,  an'  dey  saunt  word  ter  Joshwer  dat  dey 
wuz  in  troubl'  an'  he  mus'  run  up  dar  an'  git 
'em  out.  Joshwer  had  de  heart  uv  a  lion  an'  he 
wuz  up  dar  d'reckly.  Dey  had  an  orful  fight, 
sharp  an'  bitter,  but  yer  might  know  dat  Ginr'l 
Joshwer  wuz  not  up  dar  ter  git  whip't.  He 
prayed  an'  he  fought,  an'  de  hours  got  erway 
too  peart  fer  him,  an'  so  he  ask'd  de  Lord  ter 
issure  a  speshul  ordur  dat  de  sun  hoi'  up 
erwhile  an'  dat  de  moon  furnish  plenty  uv 
moonshine  down  on  de  lowes'  part  uv  de  fightin' 
groun's.  As  a  fac',  Joshwer  wuz  so  drunk  wid 
de  bat'l,  so  thursty  fer  de  blood  uv  de  en'mies 
uv  de  Lord,  an'  so  wild  wid  de  vict'ry  dat  he  tell 
de  sun  ter  stan'  still  tel  he  cud  finish  his  job. 
Wat  did  de  sun  do  ?  Did  he  glar  down  in  fi'ry 
wrath  an'  say,  '  What  you  talkin'  'bout  my  stop- 
pin'  for,  Joshwer  ;  I  ain't  navur  startid  yit.  Bin 
here  all  de  time,  an'  it  wud  smash  up  ev'ry thing 
if  I  wuz  ter  start '  ?  Naw,  he  ain'  say  dat.  But 
wat  de  Bible  say  ?  Dat's  wat  I  ax  ter  know.  It 
say  dat  it  wuz  at  de  voice  uv  Joshwer  dat  it 
stopped.  I  don'  say  it  stopt ;  tain't  fer  Jasper 


138  JOHN  JASPER 

ter  say  dat,  but  de  Bible,  de  Book  uv  Gord,  say 
so.  But  I  say  dis  ;  nuthin'  kin  stop  untel  it  hez 
fust  startid.  So  I  knows  wat  I'm  talkin'  'bout. 
De  sun  wuz  travlin'  long  dar  thru  de  sky  wen  de 
order  come.  He  hitched  his  red  ponies  and 
made  quite  a  call  on  de  Ian'  uv  Gibyun.  He 
purch  up  dar  in  de  skies  jes'  as  frenly  as  a 
naibur  whar  comes  ter  borrer  sumthin',  an'  he 
stan'  up  dar  an'  he  look  lak  he  enjoyed  de  way 
Joshwer  waxes  dem  wicked  armies.  An'  de 
moon,  she  wait  down  in  de  low  groun's  dar,  an' 
pours  out  her  light  and  look  jes'  as  ca'm  an' 
happy  as  if  she  wuz  waitin'  fer  her  'scort.  Dey 
nevur  budged,  neither  uv  'em,  long  as  de  Lord's 
army  needed  er  light  to  kerry  on  de  bat'l. 

"  I  doan't  read  when  it  wuz  dat  Joshwer  hitch  up 
an'  drove  on,  but  I  'spose  it  wuz  when  de  Lord  toF 
him  ter  go.  Ennybody  knows  dat  de  sun  didn' 
stay  dar  all  de  time.  It  stopt  fur  bizniz,  an' 
went  on  when  it  got  thru.  Dis  is  'bout  all  dat  I 
has  ter  do  wid  dis  perticl'r  case.  I  dun  show'd 
yer  dat  dis  part  uv  de  Lord's  word  teaches  yer 
dat  de  sun  stopt,  which  show  dat  he  wuz  movin' 
befo*  dat,  an'  dat  he  went  on  art'rwuds.  I  toll 
yer  dat  I  wud  prove  dis  an'  I's  dun  it,  an;  I 
derfies  ennybody  to  say  dat  my  p'int  ain't 
made. 

"  I  toF  yer  in  de  fust  part  uv  dis  discose  dat 
de  Lord  Gord  is  a  man  uv  war.  I  'spec  by  now 
yer  begin  ter  see  it  is  so.  Doan't  yer  admit  it  ? 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  139 

When  de  Lord  cum  ter  see  Joshwer  in  de  day 
uv  his  feers  an*  warfar,  an'  actu'ly  mek  de  sun 
stop  stone  still  in  de  heavuns,  so  de  fight  kin 
rage  on  tel  all  de  foes  is  slain,  yer  bleeged  ter 
und'rstan'  dat  de  Gord  uv  peace  is  also  de  man 
uv  war.  He  kin  use  bofe  peace  an'  war  ter  hep 
de  reichus,  an'  ter  scattur  de  host  uv  de  ailyuns. 
A  man  talked  ter  me  las'  week  'bout  de  laws  uv 
nature,  an'  he  say  dey  carn't  poss'bly  be  up- 
sot,  an'  I  had  ter  laugh  right  in  his  face.  As  if 
de  laws  uv  ennythin'  wuz  greater  dan  my  Gord 
who  is  de  lawgiver  fer  ev'rything.  My  Lord 
is  great ;  He  rules  in  de  heavuns,  in  de  earth, 
an'  doun  und'r  de  groun'.  He  is  great,  an' 
greatly  ter  be  praised.  Let  all  de  people  bow 
doun  an'  wurship  befo'  Him  1 

"  But  let  us  git  erlong,  for  dar  is  quite  a  big 
lot  mo'  comin'  on.  Let  us  take  nex'  de  case  of 
Hezekier.  He  wuz  one  of  dem  kings  of  Juder 
— er  mighty  sorry  lot  I  mus'  say  dem  kings  wuz, 
fur  de  mos'  part.  I  inclines  ter  think  Hezekier 
wuz  'bout  de  highes'  in  de  gin'ral  avrig,  an'  he 
war  no  mighty  man  hisse'f.  Well,  Hezekier  he 
got  sick.  I  dar  say  dat  a  king  when  he  gits  his 
crown  an'  fin'ry  off,  an'  when  he  is  posterated 
wid  mortal  sickness,  he  gits  'bout  es  commun 
lookin'  an'  grunts  an'  rolls,  an'  is  'bout  es  skeery 
as  de  res'  of  us  po'  mortals.  We  know  dat  Heze- 
kier wuz  in  er  low  state  uv  min' ;  full  uv  fears, 
an'  in  a  tur'ble  trub'le.  De  fac'  is,  de  Lord  strip 


140  JOHN  JASPER 

him  uv  all  his  glory  an'  landed  him  in  de  dust.  He 
toF  him  dat  his  hour  had  come,  an'  dat  he  had 
bettur  squar  up  his  affaars,  fur  death  wuz  at  de 
do'.  Den  it  wuz  dat  de  king  fell  low  befo'  Gord  ; 
he  turn  his  face  ter  de  wall ;  he  cry,  he  moan, 
he  begM  de  Lord  not  ter  take  him  out'n  de  worF 
yit.  Oh,  how  good  is  our  Gord  !  De  cry  uv 
de  king  moved  his  heart,  an'  he  tell  him  he 
gwine  ter  give  him  anudder  show.  Tain't  only 
de  kings  dat  de  Lord  hears.  De  cry  uv  de 
pris'nur,  de  wail  uv  de  bondsman,  de  tears  uv 
de  dyin'  robber,  de  prars  uv  de  backslider,  de 
sobs  uv  de  womun  dat  wuz  a  sinner,  mighty  apt 
to  tech  de  heart  uv  de  Lord.  It  look  lik  it's 
hard  fer  de  sinner  ter  git  so  fur  orf  or  so  fur 
down  in  de  pit  dat  his  cry  can't  reach  de  yere  uv 
de  mussiful  Saviour. 

"  But  de  Lord  do  evun  better  den  dis  fur 
Hezekier — He  tell  him  He  gwine  ter  give  him  a 
sign  by  which  he'd  know  dat  what  He  sed  wuz 
cummin'  ter  pars.  I  ain't  erquainted  wid  dem 
sun  diuls  dat  de  Lord  toll  Hezekier  'bout,  but 
ennybody  dat  hes  got  a  grain  uv  sense  knows 
dat  dey  wuz  de  clocks  uv  dem  ole  times  an'  dey 
marked  de  travuls  uv  de  sun  by  dem  diuls.  When, 
darfo;  Gord  toF  de  king  dat  He  wud  mek  de 
shadder  go  back  wud,  it  mus'  hev  bin  jes'  lak 
puttin'  de  han's  uv  de  clock  back,  but,  mark  yer, 
Izaer  'spressly  say  dat  de  sun  return'd  ten  der- 
grees.  Thar  yer  are  1  Ain't  dat  de  movement 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  141 

uv  de  sun?  Bless  my  soul.  Hezekier's  case 
beat  Joshwer.  Joshwer  stop  de  sun,  but  heer  de 
Lord  mek  de  sun  walk  back  ten  dergrees ;  an" 
yet  dey  say  dat  de  sun  stan'  stone  still  an'  nevur 
move  er  peg.  It  look  ter  me  he  move  roun' 
mighty  brisk  an'  is  ready  ter  go  ennyway  dat 
de  Lord  ordurs  him  ter  go.  I  wonder  if  enny 
uv  dem  furloserfers  is  roun'  here  dis  arternoon. 
I'd  lik  ter  take  a  squar'  look  at  one  uv  dem  an' 
ax  him  to  'splain  dis  mattur.  He  carn't  do  it, 
my  bruthr'n.  He  knows  a  heap  'bout  books, 
maps,  riggers  an'  long  distunces,  but  I  derfy  him 
ter  take  up  Hezekier's  case  an'  'splain  it  orf.  He 
carn't  do  it.  De  Word  uv  de  Lord  is  my  defense 
an'  bulwurk,  an'  I  fears  not  what  men  can  say 
nor  do ;  my  Gord  gives  me  de  vict'ry. 

"  'Low  me,  my  frens,  ter  put  mysef  squar 'bout 
dis  movement  uv  de  sun.  It  ain't  no  bizniss 
uv  mine  wedder  de  sun  move  or  stan'  still,  or 
wedder  it  stop  or  go  back  or  rise  or  set.  All 
dat  is  out  er  my  han's  'tirely,  an'  I  got  nuthin' 
ter  say.  I  got  no  the-o-ry  on  de  subjik.  All  I 
ax  is  dat  we  will  take  wat  de  Lord  say  'bout  it 
an'  let  His  will  be  dun  'bout  ev'ry thing.  Wat 
dat  will  is  I  karn't  know  'cept  He  whisper  inter 
my  soul  or  write  it  in  a  book.  Here's  de  Book. 
Dis  is  'nough  fer  me,  and  wid  it  ter  pilut  me,  I 
karn't  git  fur  erstray. 

"  But  1  ain't  dun  wid  yer  yit.  As  de  song 
says,  dere's  mo'  ter  f oiler.  I  envite  yer  ter  heer 


142  JOHN  JASPER 

de  fust  vers  in  de  sev'nth  chaptur  uv  de  book  uv 
Reverlashuns.  What  do  John,  und'r  de  pow'r 
uv  de  Spirit,  say?  He  say  he  saw  fo'  anguls 
standin'  on  de  fo'  corners  uv  de  earth,  holdin' 
de  fo'  win's  uv  de  earth,  an'  so  fo'th.  'Low  me 
ter  ax  ef  de  earth  is  roun',  whar  do  it  keep  its 
corners?  Er  flat,  squar  thing  has  corners,  but 
tell  me  where  is  de  cornur  uv  er  appul,  ur  a 
marbul,  ur  a  cannun  ball,  ur  a  silver  dollar.  Ef 
dar  is  enny  one  uv  dem  furloserfurs  whar's  been 
takin'  so  many  cracks  at  my  ole  haid  'bout  here, 
he  is  korjully  envited  ter  step  for'd  an'  squar 
up  dis  vexin'  bizniss.  I  here  tell  you  dat  yer 
karn't  squar  a  circul,  but  it  looks  lak  dese  great 
scolurs  dun  learn  how  ter  circul  de  squar.  Ef 
dey  kin  do  it,  let  'em  step  ter  de  front  an'  do  de 
trick.  But,  mer  brutherin,  in  my  po'  judgmint, 
dey  karn't  do  it ;  tain't  in  'em  ter  do  it.  Dey  is 
on  der  wrong  side  of  de  Bible  ;  dat's  on  de  out- 
side uv  de  Bible,  an'  dar's  whar  de  trubbul  comes 
in  wid  'em.  Dey  dun  got  out  uv  de  bres'wuks 
uv  de  truf,  an'  ez  long  ez  dey  stay  dar  de  light 
uv  de  Lord  will  not  shine  on  der  path.  I  ain't 
keer'n  so  much  'bout  de  sun,  tho'  it's  mighty 
kunveenyunt  ter  hav  it,  but  my  trus'  is  in  de 
Word  uv  de  Lord.  Long  ez  my  feet  is  flat  on 
de  solid  rock,  no  man  kin  move  me.  I'se  gittin' 
my  orders  f'um  de  Gord  of  my  salvashun. 

"  Tother  day  er~man  wid  er  hi  coler  and  side 
whisk'rs  cum  ter  my  house.     He  was  one  nice 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  143 

North'rn  gemman  wat  think  a  heap  of  us  col'rd 
people  in  de  Souf.  Da  ar  luvly  folks  and  I 
honours  'em  very  much.  He  seem  from  de  start 
kinder  strictly  an'  cross  wid  me,  and  arter  while, 
he  brake  out  furi'us  and  frettid,  an'  he  say : 
'  Erlow  me  Mister  Jasper  ter  gib  you  sum  plain 
advise.  Dis  nonsans  'bout  de  sun  movin'  whar 
you  ar  gettin'  is  disgracin'  yer  race  all  ober  de 
kuntry,  an'  as  a  fren  of  yer  peopul,  I  cum  ter 
say  it's  got  ter  stop.'  Ha !  Ha !  Ha  1  Mars' 
Sam  Hargrove  nuvur  hardly  smash  me  dat  way. 
It  was  equl  to  one  ov  dem  ole  overseurs  way 
bac  yondur.  I  tel  him  dat  ef  he'll  sho  me  I'se 
wrong,  I  giv  it  all  up. 

"  My  1  My  !  Ha !  Ha !  He  sail  in  on  me 
an'  such  er  storm  about  science,  nu  'scuv'ries,  an' 
de  Lord  only  knos  wat  all,  I  ner  hur  befo',  an' 
den  he  tel  me  my  race  is  ergin  me  an'  po  ole 
Jasper  mus  shet  up  'is  fule  mouf. 

"  Wen  he  got  thru — it  look  lak  he  nuvur  wud, 
I  tel  him  John  Jasper  ain'  set  up  to  be  no  scholur, 
an'  doant  kno  de  ferlosophiz,  an'  ain'  tryin'  ter 
hurt  his  peopul,  but  is  wurkin'  day  an'  night  ter 
lif  'em  up,  but  his  foot  is  on  de  rock  uv  eternal 
truff.  Dar  he  stan'  and  dar  he  is  goin'  ter  stan' 
til  Gabrul  soun's  de  judgment  note.  So  er  say 
to  de  gemman  wat  scoPd  me  up  so  dat  I  hur  him 
mek  his  remarks,  but  I  ain'  hur  whar  he  get  his 
Scriptu'  from,  an'  dat  'tween  him  an'  de  wurd  of 
de  Lord  I  tek  my  stan'  by  de  Word  of  Gord  ebery 


144  JOHN  JASPER 

time.  Jasper  am'  mad  :  he  am'  fightin'  nobody ; 
he  ain'  bin  'pinted  janitur  to  run  de  sun :  he 
nothin'  but  de  servunt  of  Gord  and  a  luver  of  de 
Everlasting  Word.  What  I  keer  about  de  sun  ? 
De  day  comes  on  wen  de  sun  will  be  called  frum 
his  race-trac,  and  his  light  squincked  out  foruvur ; 
de  moon  shall  turn  ter  blood,  and  this  yearth  be 
konsoomed  wid  fier.  Let  um  go  ;  dat  wont  skeer 
me  nor  trubble  Gord's  erlect'd  peopul,  for  de 
word  uv  de  Lord  shell  aindu  furivur,  an'  on 
dat  Solid  Rock  we  stan'  an'  shall  not  be  tnuved. 
"  Is  I  got  yer  satisfied  yit  ?  Has  I  prooven  my 
p'int?  Oh,  ye  whose  hearts  is  full  uv  unberlief ! 
Is  yer  still  hoi' in'  out?  I  reckun  de  reason  yer 
say  de  sun  don'  move  is  'cause  yer  are  so  hard 
ter  move  yerse'f.  You  is  a  reel  triul  ter  me,  but, 
nevur  min' ;  I  ain't  gi'n  yer  up  yit,  an'  nevur  will. 
Truf  is  mighty  ;  it  kin  break  de  heart  uv  stone, 
an'  I  mus'  fire  anudder  arrur  uv  truf  out'n  de 
quivur  uv  de  Lord.  If  yer  haz  er  copy  uv  God's 
Word  'bout  yer  pussun,  please  tu'n  ter  dat  miner 
profit,  Malerki,  wat  writ  der  las'  book  in  der  ole 
Bible,  an'  look  at  chaptur  de  fust,  vurs  'leben ; 
what  do  it  say?  I  bet'r  read  it,  fur  I  got  er 
noshun  yer  critics  doan't  kerry  enny  Bible  in 
thar  pockits  ev'ry  day  in  de  week.  Here  is  wat 
it  says :  '  Fur  from  de  risin'  uv  de  sun  evun 
unter  de  goin'  doun  uv  de  same  My  name  shall 
be  great  'mong  de  Gentiles.  .  .  My  name 
shall  be  great  'mong  de  heathun,  sez  de  Lord  uv 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  145 

hosts.'  How  do  dat  suit  yer  ?  It  look  lak  dat 
ort  ter  fix  it.  Dis  time  it  is  de  Lord  uv  hosts 
Hisse'f  dat  is  doin'  de  talkin',  an'  He  is  talkin' 
on  er  wonderful  an*  glorious  subjik.  He  is  tellin' 
uv  de  spredin'  uv  His  Gorspel,  uv  de  kummin' 
uv  His  larst  vict'ry  ovur  de  Gentiles,  an'  de  wurld- 
wide  glories  dat  at  de  las'  He  is  ter  git.  Oh,  my 
bruddrin,  wat  er  time  dat  will  be.  My  soul  teks 
wing  es  I  erticipate  wid  joy  dat  merlenium  day  ! 
De  glories  as  dey  shine  befo'  my  eyes  blin's  me, 
an'  I  furgits  de  sun  an*  moon  an'  stars.  I  jes' 
'members  dat  'long  'bout  dose  las'  days  dat  de 
sun  an'  moon  will  go  out  uv  bizniss,  fur  dey  won' 
be  needed  no  mo'.  Den  will  King  Jesus  come 
back  ter  see  His  people,  an'  He  will  be  de  suf- 
fishunt  light  uv  de  wurP.  Joshwer's  bat'ls  will 
be  ovur.  Hezekier  woan't  need  no  sun  diul,  an* 
de  sun  an'  moon  will  fade  out  befo'  de  glorius 
splendurs  uv  de  New  Jerruslem. 

"  But  wat  der  mattur  wid  Jasper.  I  mos'  fur- 
git  my  bizniss,  an'  mos'  gon'  ter  shoutin'  ovur  de 
far  away  glories  uv  de  secun'  cummin'  uv  my 
Lord.  I  beg  pardun,  an'  will  try  ter  git  back  ter 
my  subjik.  I  hev  ter  do  as  de  sun  in  Hezekier' s 
case — fall  back  er  few  dergrees.  In  dat  part  uv 
de  Word  dat  I  gin  yer  frum  Malerki — dat  de 
Lord  Hisse'f  spoke — He  klars  dat  His  glory  is 
gwine  ter  spred.  Spred?  Whar?  Frum  de 
risin'  uv  de  sun  ter  de  goin'  down  uv  de  same. 
Wat?  Doan't  say  dat,  duz  it?  Dat's  edzakly 


146  JOHN  JASPER 

wat  it  sez.  Ain't  dat  cleer  'miff  fer  yer  ?  De 
Lord  pity  dese  doubtin'  Tommusses.  Here  is 
'nuff  ter  settul  it  all  an'  kure  de  wuss  cases. 
Walk  up  yere,  wise  folks,  an'  git  yer  med'sin. 
Whar  is  dem  high  collar'  d  f  urloserf  urs  no w  ?  Wat 
dey  skulkin'  roun'  in  de  brush  fer  ?  Why  doan't 
yer  git  out  in  der  broad  arternoon  light  an'  fight 
fer  yer  cullurs  ?  Ah,  I  un'stans  it ;  yer  got  no 
answer.  De  Bible  is  agin  yer,  an'  in  yer  kon- 
shunses  yer  are  convictid. 

"  But  I  hears  yer  back  dar.  Wat  yer  wisprin' 
'bout  ?  I  know ;  yer  say  yer  sont  me  sum  papurs 
an'  I  nevur  answer  dem.  Ha,  ha,  ha !  I  got  'em. 
De  differkulty  'bout  dem  papurs  yer  sont  me  is 
dat  dey  did  not  answer  me.  Dey  nevur  menshun 
de  Bible  one  time.  Yer  think  so  much  uv  your- 
sef's  an'  so  little  uv  de  Lord  Gord  an'  thinks  wat 
yer  say  is  so  smart  dat  yer  karn't  even  speak  uv 
de  Word  uv  de  Lord.  When  yer  ax  me  ter  stop 
believin'  in  de  Lord's  Word  an'  ter  pin  my  faith 
ter  yo  words,  I  ain't  er  gwine  ter  do  it.  I  take 
my  stan'  by  de  Bible  an'  res'  my  case  on  wat  it 
says.  I  take  wat  de  Lord  says  'bout  my  sins, 
'bout  my  Saviour,  'bout  life,  'bout  death,  'bout  de 
wurF  ter  come,  an'  I  take  wat  de  Lord  say  'bout 
de  sun  an'  moon,  an'  I  cares  little  wat  de  haters 
of  mer  Gord  chooses  ter  say.  Think  dat  I  will 
fursake  de  Bible  ?  It  is  my  only  Book,  my  hope, 
de  arsnel  uv  my  soul's  surplies,  an'  I  wants 
nuthin'  else. 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  147 

"  But  I  got  ernudder  wurd  fur  yer  yit.  I  done 
wuk  ovur  dem  papurs  dat  yer  sont  me  widout 
date  an'  widout  yer  name.  Yer  deals  in  figgurs 
an'  thinks  yer  are  biggur  dan  de  arkanjuls. 
Lemme  see  wat  yer  dun  say.  Yer  set  yerse'f 
up  ter  tell  me  how  fur  it  is  frum  here  ter  de  sun. 
Yer  think  yer  got  it  down  ter  er  nice  p'int.  Yer 
say  it  is  3,339,002  miles  frum  de  earth  ter  desun. 
Dat's  wat  yer  say.  Nudder  one  say  dat  de  dis- 
tuns  is  12,000,000;  nudder  got  it  ter  27,000,000. 
I  hers  dat  de  great  Isuk  Nutun  wuk't  it  up  ter 
28,000,000,  an'  later  on  de  furloserfurs  gin  ernud- 
der rippin'  raze  to  50,000,000.  De  las'  one  gits 
it  bigger  dan  all  de  yuthers,  up  to  90,000,000. 
Doan't  enny  uv  'em  ergree  edzakly  an'  so  dey 
runs  a  guess  game,  an'  de  las'  guess  is  always 
de  bigges'.  Now,  wen  dese  guessers  kin  hav  a 
kunvenshun  in  Richmun'  an'  all  ergree  'pun  de 
same  thing,  I'd  be  glad  ter  hear  frum  yer  ag*in, 
an'  I  duz  hope  dat  by  dat  time  yer  won't  be  er- 
shamed  uv  yer  name. 

"  Heeps  uv  railroads  hes  bin  built  sense 
I  saw  de  fust  one  wen  I  wuz  fifteen  yeers  ole, 
but  I  ain't  hear  tell  uv  er  railroad  built  yit 
ter  de  sun.  I  doan*  see  why  ef  dey  kin  meshur 
de  distuns  ter  de  sun,  dey  might  not  git  up 
er  railroad  er  a  telurgraf  an'  enabul  us  ter  fin' 
sumthin'  else  'bout  it  den  merely  how  fur  orf  de 
sun  is.  Dey  tell  me  dat  a  kannun  ball  cu'd  mek 
de  trep  ter  de  sun  in  twelve  years.  Why  doan' 


148  JOHN  JASPER 

dey  send  it  ?  It  might  be  rigM  up  wid  quarturs 
fur  a  few  furloserfers  on  de  inside  an'  fixed  up  fur 
er  kumfurterble  ride.  Dey  wud  need  twelve 
years'  rashuns  an'  a  heep  uv  changes  uv  ramint 
— mighty  thick  clo'es  wen  dey  start  and  mighty 
thin  uns  wen  dey  git  dar. 

"  Oh,  mer  bruthrin,  dese  things  mek  yer  laugh, 
an'  I  doan'  blem  yerferlaughin',  'cept  it's  always 
sad  ter  laugh  at  der  follies  uv  fools.  If  we  cu'd 
laugh  'em  out'n  kount'nens,  we  might  well  laugh 
day  an'  night  Wat  cuts  inter  my  soul  is,  dat  all 
dese  men  seem  ter  me  dat  dey  is  hittin'  at  de 
Bible.  Dat's  wat  sturs  my  soul  an'  fills  me  wid 
reichus  wrath.  Leetle  keers  I  wat  dey  says  'bout 
de  sun,  purvided  dey  let  de  Word  uv  de  Lord 
erlone.  But  nevur  min'.  Let  de  heethun  rage 
an'  de  people  'madgin  er  vain  thing.  Our  King 
shall  break  'em  in  pieces  an'  dash  rem  down. 
But  blessed  be  de  name  uv  our  Gord,  de  Word 
uv  de  Lord  indurith  furivur.  Stars  may  fall, 
moons  may  turn  ter  blood,  an'  de  sun  set  ter  rise 
no  mo',  but  Thy  kingdom,  oh,  Lord,  is  frum 
evurlastin'  ter  evurlastin'. 

"  But  I  has  er  word  dis  arternoon  fer  my  own 
brutherin.  Dey  is  de  people  fer  whose  souls  I  got 
ter  watch — fur  dem  I  got  ter  stan'  an'  report  at  de 
last — dey  is  my  sheep  an'  Fse  der  shepherd,  an' 
my  soul  is  knit  ter  dem  forever.  'Tain  fer  me  ter 
be  troublin'  yer  wid  dese  questions  erbout  dem 
heb'nly  bodies.  Our  eyes  goes  far  beyon'  de 


THE  SUN  DO  MOVE  149 

smaller  stars  ;  our  home  is  clean  outer  sight  uv 
dem  twinklin'  orbs ;  de  chariot  dat  will  cum  ter 
take  us  to  our  Father's  mansion  will  sweep  out 
by  dem  flickerin'  lights  an'  never  halt  till  it  brings 
us  in  clar  view  uv  de  throne  uv  de  Lamb.  Doan't 
hitch  yer  hopes  to  no  sun  nor  stars  ;  yer  home  is 
got  Jesus  fer  its  light,  an'  yer  hopes  mus'  trabel 
up  dat  way.  I  preach  dis  sermon  jest  fer  ter 
settle  de  min's  uv  my  few  brutherin,  an'  repeats 
it  'cause  kin'  frens  wish  ter  hear  it,  an'  I  hopes  it 
will  do  honour  ter  de  Lord's  Word.  But  nuthin' 
short  of  de  purly  gates  can  satisfy  me,  an'  I 
charge,  my  people,  fix  yer  feet  on  de  solid  Rock, 
yer  hearts  on  Calv'ry,  an'  yer  eyes  on  de  throne 
uv  de  Lamb.  Dese  strifes  an'  griefs  '11  soon  git 
ober ;  we  shall  see  de  King  in  His  glory  an'  be  at 
ease.  Go  on,  go  on,  ye  ransom  uv  de  Lord  ;  shout 
His  praises  as  yer  go,  an'  I  shall  meet  yer  in  de 
city  uv  de  New  Jeruserlum,  whar  we  shan't  need 
the  light  uv  de  sun,  fer  de  Lam'  uv  de  Lord  is  de 
light  uv  de  saints." 


XIV 

ONE  JASPER  DAY  IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878 

The  Story  of  a  Spectator 

THE  paper  which  follows  is  a  composite,  em- 
bodying many  incidents  and  facts  connected  with 
the  Jasper  sensation,  and  designed  to  reflect,  so 
far  as  possible,  the  impression  made  by  the  fiery 
old  philosopher  upon  those  who  though  out  of 
sympathy  with  his  astronomical  notions  fell  as 
helpless  victims  beneath  the  spell  of  his  eloquence 
and  honesty. 

For  quite  a  while  the  Jasper  sensation  had 
grown  acute  in  Richmond.  Beginning  as  a  freak, 
it  bloomed  into  a  fad,  got  in  the  air,  and  actually 
invaded  private  homes.  It  was  a  pentecost  for 
the  curious,  a  juicy  apple  for  the  hard-driven  re- 
porter, a  festival  for  the  scoffer,  and  a  roaring 
financial  bonanza  for  the  saints  of  Sixth  Mount 
Zion. 

I  confess  that,  for  my  part,  it  struck  me  as  a 
ridiculous  business  at  best,  the  big  bubble  of  an 
hour,  and  that  if  not  caught  at  the  exact  moment 
it  would  speedily  disappear,  and  while  I  was  a 
sprig  of  a  reporter  it  was  the  sort  of  thing  which 
did  not  come  my  way.  Being,  however,  of  a 
prying  and  curious  turn  of  mind  I  determined 

150 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      151 

to  take  one  glimpse  at  the  black  elephant.  It 
took  time,  however,  to  get  my  purpose  into 
working  order,  but  my  day  came  in  due  course. 
I  awoke  one  morning  to  find  the  Saturday  pa- 
pers "  festering"  with  Jasper.  He  was  in  the  ad- 
vertisements, in  the  communications,  and  in  the 
local  columns,  and  the  show  was  to  come  off  the 
next  day.  They  told  once  more  of  his  astronom- 
ical absurdities,  as  I  believed  them  to  be,  and  in- 
formed me  that  the  exhibition  would  come  off  at 
3  P.  M.  on  the  next  afternoon.  At  neon,  I 
dropped  into  Reugers'  for  my  lunch,  and  a  table 
of  hayseed  legislators  were  filling  the  room,  with 
noisy  gabble  about  Jasper  and  his  planetary 
crochets.  I  found  that  some  of  them  had  signed 
a  paper  asking  for  the  approaching  Jasperian 
exhibition,  and  others  of  them  were  twitting  and 
punching  them  for  their  folly ;  but  I  found  that 
both  sides  of  them  were  going. 

Later  in  the  day,  I  got  into  a  West  Main  Street 
car  and  found  a  seat  next  to  three  ladies  who  evi- 
dently had  a  serious  attack  of  Jasper,  and  they, 
too,  were  bargaining  to  go.  At  the  supper  table 
in  my  boarding-house  that  evening  I  found  a 
sickly  old  Yankee  minister  loafing  in  Richmond 
for  his  health,  in  a  swivet  of  excitement  about  Jas- 
per and  his  coming  oration.  My  landlady's  four- 
teen year  old  boy  told  me  that  his  mother  had 
promised  that  he  should  go  to  hear  Jasper,  on 
the  hampering  condition  that  he  could  get  some 


152  JOHN  JASPER 

gentleman  to  go  with  him,  and  his  appeal  for  my 
company  would  have  beaten  Jasper  in  the  point 
of  passionate  eloquence.  To  me,  it  all  seemed  a 
stew  of  folly,  and  yet  I  found  myself  gratified  to 
have  this  earnest  lad  as  an  excuse  in  favour  of  my 
going. 

I  finally  bargained  with  the  eager  youngster 
that  I  would  waylay  him  the  next  morning  on 
his  early  escape  from  the  Sunday-school,  and  we 
would  stroll  out  into  the  vicinity  of  the  Sixth 
Mount  Zion  Church,  and  make  a  preliminary  re- 
connoissance  of  the  general  situation.  We  did 
not  find  it  quite  a  well-odoured  stroll  at  all  points, 
particularly  as  we  got  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
church,  for  we  encountered  a  tangle  of  streets  and 
alleys  some  of  which  were  not  in  the  best  con- 
dition. 

Not  long  after  crossing  Broad  Street  we  began 
to  run  afoul  of  squads  and  groups  of  coloured  peo- 
ple, and  the  total  strain  of  their  chat  was  Jasper 
and  what  was  coming  later  on.  The  nearer  we 
came  to  the  church,  the  combat,  as  the  poet  said, 
deepened,  that  is,  the  groups  multiplied  and  the 
Jasperian  element  grew.  A  huge  negro  woman 
hanging  on  a  side-gate  on  Clay  Street  was  shout- 
ing in  a  piping  voice  about  Jasper  and  the  sun, 
and  telling  to  several  dumb  listeners  that  "  she 
wuz  gwine  ter  be  dar  ef  de  Lord  '  sparred '  her 
an'  it  wuz  de  las'  thing  she  done  on  de  yerth." 

I  observed  also  several  of  those  Virginia  solons 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      153 

already  mentioned, — those  big  footed,  badly 
shaven,  and  consequential  legislators, — prowling 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  church,  as  if  they  were 
studying  and  planning  for  burglaries.  As  we 
meandered  the  crooked  streets  which  admitted 
us  to  a  sight  of  the  great  Sixth  Mount  Zion,  we 
saw  in  every  direction  the  sign  of  a  prodigious 
expectancy.  Front  yards,  streets,  and  alleys  had 
their  contingents,  and  you  could  not  get  within 
ear-shot  without  getting  some  novel  and  surpris- 
ing hints  as  to  John  Jasper  and  the  Solar  System. 
We  could  hear  singing  in  the  church,  and  we 
assumed  that  something  in  the  way  of  worship 
was  in  process.  That,  however,  was  not  IT. 
That  was  a  tame  and  pithless  performance,  and 
if  Jasper  was  in  it  at  all  he  was  evidently  resting 
his  better  forces  for  the  bigger  battle  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  impending  afternoon. 

The  attraction  on  the  inside  was  out  of  gear 
and  didn't  draw.  My  young  companion,  who 
was  vastly  my  superior  as  to  the  Jasper  situation, 
informed  me  with  marked  conviction  that  the 
thing  for  us  to  do,  and  to  do  at  once  and  with  a 
rush,  was  to  go  back  to  the  house,  swallow  our 
dinner,  and  get  back  with  the  utmost  speed.  We 
did  not  get  away,  however,  before  we  noted  that 
all  avenues  in  the  vicinity  of  the  church  seemed 
to  be  filling.  Some  were  coming  and  going  ; 
some  were  knotted  into  groups  looking  very 
solemn  and  apparently  awestruck,  and  some  were 


154:  JOHN  JASPER 

crowding  in  like  late  comers  at  a  circus ;  but 
whenever  you  caught  a  word  it  had  to  do  with 
Jasper.  As  we  walked  away,  the  son  of  my 
landlady,  full  of  the  fidgets  and  outraged  by  my 
slow  motion  remarked  sagely :  "  Ain't  he  got 
'em  ?  "  I  had  to  admit  it ;  he  had  'em, — by  a 
grip  tighter  than  if  he  had  'em  by  the  nape  of  the 
neck.  Evidently  enough,  he  had  them,  and  in  a 
bunch  as  big  as  the  town. 

But  I  didn't  know  it  fully  then.  Being  un- 
tutored in  Jasper's  holding  power,  I  was  fresh 
enough  to  suppose  that  all  that  buzzing,  swarm- 
ing gang  of  negroes  would  scatter  away  to  their 
frugal  Sunday  meal,  and  that  the  alleys  and 
streets  would  empty  into  their  usual  vacancy, 
though  the  boy's  mien  of  hurry  and  eagerness 
was  warning  me  to  the  contrary.  He  mentioned 
several  times  that  from  what  other  boys  had  told 
him  we  must  go  very  early,  and  in  order  to 
gratify  him  we  got  out  of  the  boarding-house  at 
a  quarter  after  one,  and  we  needed  only  fifteen 
minutes  of  quiet  walking  to  get  a  front  seat 

Shades  of  the  Pharaohs  and  shadows  of  the 
Pyramids !  As  we  headed  towards  the  seat  of 
planetary  conflict  the  streets  looked  like  black 
rivers.  Great  lines  of  blacks,  relieved  here  and 
there  by  companies  of  whites,  thronged  the  side- 
walks. Were  Hannibal's  Carthagenian  legions 
being  turned  loose  in  Richmond  ?  Or  had  some 
mighty  earthquake  ripped  open  the  foundations 


IN  THE  SPEING  TIME  OF  1878      155 

of  Richmond,  and  were  the  people,  caked  with 
the  soot,  fleeing  for  life  ?  It  was  more  tranquil 
than  that,  thank  heaven !  It  was  however  the 
town,  upheaved  and  agitated,  striving  fiercely 
for  Sixth  Mount  Zion,  to  hear  the  supreme  sen- 
sation of  all  his  race, — as  I  now  began  to  realize 
he  was.  Squares  before  we  got  to  the  church  we 
collided  with  the  returning  tide.  "No  use  of  go- 
ing," they  said, — "  house  already  packed  ;  streets 
full,  men  fighting  and  women  fainting,"  and  a 
deal  more  of  the  same  sort 

But  these  appalling  things  only  urged  me  on. 
If  there  was  to  be  a  congestion  or  a  catastrophe, 
it  was  just  to  my  taste  as  well  as  to  my  profes- 
sion to  attend.  Besides,  I  had  in  me  a  desperate 
purpose  to  get  into  that  house,  and  I  promised 
the  boy  that  we'd  sink  or  swim  together.  I  un- 
derstood it  was  perfectly  scriptural  to  rip  off  the 
roof  as  the  last  resort.  The  occasion  had  jumped 
the  common  road,  and  it  was  folly  to  falter  now 
before  any  obstacle.  The  fight  through  that  mob 
has  left  me  some  marks  to  be  noticed  when  I  am 
dressed  for  my  burial.  My  toes  were  tramped 
into  jelly.  At  one  time  I  was  lifted  by  a  rush, 
and  one  of  my  knees  aches  yet  in  bad  weather  as 
a  consequence.  Several  times  I  thought  the 
landlady's  boy  was  doomed  to  become  an  un- 
recognizable mangle.  It  began  to  sift  into  me 
that  Jasper  was  more  than  a  man,  and  nothing 
short  of  an  entire  situation  and  a  public  men- 


156  JOHN  JASPER 

ace.  My  business  was  more  and  more  to  see 
him. 

The  church,  when  first  seen,  looked  like  a  tall 
boat  borne  on  the  heads  of  thousands,  and  yet  I 
pushed  along.  Now,  right  here,  I  have  to  drop 
my  honesty  and  become  a  hypocrite.  How  I 
got  into  that  house  must  not  be  told.  There  is 
a  muscular,  ginger-bread  fellow  who  stays  in  the 
office  down  town,  and  he  broke  all  rules  and  I 
know  not  how  many  bones,  and,  miraculous  as  it 
was,  landed  me  and  the  boy  into  the  pulpit  with 
blood  on  the  boy's  nose. 

Now,  excuse  me  from  describing  the  music 
and  the  praying,  though  I  would  like  to  mention 
that  the  song  that  the  old  darkey  in  the  Amen 
corner  with  the  white  nape  and  the  quivering 
voice  started  up,  and  which  it  looked  to  me  like 
all  the  people  in  the  world  were  singing,  rather 
jerked  me  out  of  myself  and  took  me  off  on  its 
waves,  and  when  I  got  back  I  had  to  use  my 
handkerchief  in  an  unusual  way. 

Jasper  made  a  prayer  also,  and  the  way  he 
talked  to  the  Lord  about  his  own  meanness  and 
his  ignorance,  knocked  out  of  me  about  half  of 
my  notion  that  he  was  a  dribbling  old  egotist  and 
numbskull.  He  caused  cold  chills  to  pass  up  my 
back  by  several  surprising  things  which  he  said 
to  the  Lord  in  a  most  serious  way,  and  I  have  to 
own  that  by  the  time  he  said  "  Amen,"  I  was  a 
little  prejudiced  in  his  favour. 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      157 

Further,  allow  me  to  say  right  here  that  I 
know  positively  that  I  never  saw  so  many  people 
in  a  house  of  that  size  at  one  time  as  was  in  the 
church  that  afternoon.  Women  sat  in  each 
other's  laps,  the  pulpit  was  piled  up,  and  all  the 
spaces  chinked,  packed,  and  doubled  up.  I 
ought  to  add  that  the  look  of  eagerness,  expecta- 
tion, and  attention  was  oppressive.  No  whisper- 
ing, no  looking  around ;  only  silence,  except 
when  Jasper  started  them.  Then  you  felt  the 
mastery  and  the  subduing  sovereignty  of  the 
man.  I  saw  that  the  white  people  had  been 
favoured  in  getting  seats,  and  there  were  hordes 
of  them.  The  legislators  abounded,  and  there 
were  preachers,  lawyers,  notable  men,  fashionable 
women,  and  not  a  few  strangers  in  Richmond, 
all  herding  together  and  very  serious.  It  wasn't, 
I  confess,  what  I  expected  I  looked  for  a  circus, 
and  had  hooked  a  funeral, — no,  not  a  funeral ;  it 
wasn't  dismal  enough  for  that,  but  far  more 
thoughtful  and  wakeful  than  a  funeral  can  be. 

I  looked  Jasper  over  with  a  critical  eye,  and 
before  he  began  to  preach  I  had  his  age  down  for 
sixty-two,  but  when  he  began  to  career  over  the 
pulpit  I  knocked  off  ten  years.  He  had  an  un- 
attractive bulge  on  his  face  around  his  cheek- 
bone, but  his  head  looked  like  an  alpine  cliff. 
His  eye,  I  noted,  was  an  all  sufficient  redeemer, 
and  its  flash  and  laugh  would  cover  acres  of  ug- 
liness. His  whiskers  were  decidedly  undistin- 


158  JOHN  JASPER 

guished,  except  in  their  cut,  and  I  marked  his 
blood  as  unmixed.  He  dressed  in  a  manner 
best  suited  to  prevent  people  from  noticing  how 
he  dressed,  and  his  tall  form  and  alert  action 
made  him  attractive  in  the  pulpit. 

During  the  sermon  he  had  something  to  say 
about  himself.  "  I'll  be  sixty-six  years  old  on  de 
fo'th  day  uv  dis  coming  July.  I  set  out  ter  seek 
de  salvation  uv  my  Gord  in  1839.  I  have  never 
been  in  any  school,  but  I  spent  some  months 
trying  ter  learn  ter  spell.  I  wuz  converted  in 
Marse  Sam  Hargrove's  terbakur  fac'try  in  dis  city, 
on  de  25th  day  uv  July,  1839,  and  frum  dat  day 
I  have  know'd  dat  Gord  had  anintid  me  wid 
de  Holy  Ghost  ter  preach  de  Gorspil  uv  His  Son." 

You  couldn't  hear  Jasper  say  that  and  doubt. 
He  seemed  to  assert  a  mastery  over  me  from  the 
start  as  to  his  sincerity.  It  was  impossible, 
moreover,  to  question  the  honesty  of  anything 
he  said.  He  made  another  remark  at  the  outset 
which  made  everybody  smile,  but  it  was  not  a 
frivolous  smile  by  a  long  shot.  He  said  he  was 
so  ignorant  when  he  first  felt  he  must  preach  that 
he  thought  maybe  God  wouldn't  want  a  man  to 
preach  who  could  not  read,  and  that  maybe  the 
devil  had  put  that  notion  into  him.  Then  he 
stopped,  and  with  a  decided  smile  he  said,  "  I 
got  a  notion  dat  ef  de  debbul  put  dis  thing 
in  me,  den  he  wuz  a  bigger  fool  dan  I  ever 
thought  he  cud  be.  I  don't  think  he  hav  made 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      159 

much  by  settin'  me  out  ter  preach  ef  he  did 
fer  I  done  knocked  his  kingdom  hard  blows 
many  a  day,  but  arter  more  dan  forty  years 
servin'  my  Gord  I  know  who  I  hev  b'lieved. 
I  feel  dat  wenever  I  stan'  up  in  His  name,  de 
Lord  is  wid  me." 

After  these  remarks  he  gave  out  his  text  and 
started  in. 

"  Ef  I  don't  prove  ter  you  by  de  word  uv  my 
Gord  ter  day  dat  de  sun  do  move,  den  I  ergree 
never  ter  preach  agin  es  long  es  my  head  is 
'bove  de  clods.  I  spek  ebbry  lady  an'  gentl'man 
presunt  dis  evenin'  ter  say  wedder  wat  I  say  is 
so  or  not,  arter  dey  hear  wat  I  hav  ter  say.  I'll 
speak  out'n  de  Bibul,  an'  I  want  evrybody  ter 
mark  de  words  dat  I  giv  'em." 

I  found  that  Jasper  had  a  keen  eye  for 
business.  He  did  things  according  to  the  book. 
He  had  ferreted  out  of  the  Bible  every  passage 
that  bore  upon  the  motions  of  the  sun,  and  he 
had  them  all  printed  in  a  sort  of  tract.  A  copy 
of  these  passages  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  every 
one  who  could  read  and  wished  to  follow  him. 
He  stumbled  considerably  over  the  big  words, 
but  he  skipped  none,  and  kept  along,  and  when 
he  would  read  a  passage  he  would  ask  to  be 
corrected  if,  in  any  small  degree,  he  had  not 
read  it  as  it  ought  to  be.  He  was  greatly  set  on 
doing  clean  work,  and  not  seeming  to  be  willing 
to  fool  anybody. 


160  JOHN  JASPER 

After  reading  a  passage,  then  "  the  fun  "  would 
begin.  He  would  pluck  out  of  it  the  part  that 
helped  his  argument,  and  it  was  a  sight  to  see 
him  with  this  passage  as  if  it  were  a  broad  sword. 
He  would  charge  upon  his  antagonists,  shouting 
and  laughing,  and  whacking  them  as  he  went 
until  he  would  close  that  part  of  his  work  in  a 
storm  of  eloquence.  How  he  did  move  the 
people  1  He  moved  with  the  stride  of  the  con- 
queror. 

I  am  not  skilled  in  religious  reporting  and  can- 
not undertake  to  follow  Jasper  in  that  fusillade 
of  comment  and  criticism  with  which,  for  a  full 
hour  and  a  half,  he  bore  down  upon  his  ad- 
versaries, crashing  and  scattering  them  as  he 
went.  A  few  of  his  sayings,  however,  stuck. 
He  drove  them  into  my  flesh  like  fangs,  and 
possibly  a  concrete  show  of  them  may  help  out- 
siders towards  a  conclusion  as  to  what  Jasper  is 
after. 

His  text,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  was  not  within 
ninety-five  millions  of  miles  of  the  question  as  to 
the  movement  of  the  sun.  It  did  however  suit 
exactly  for  that  part  of  his  sermon  which  had  to 
do  with  the  Lord  as  the  defender  of  His  ancient 
people.  He  grew  vivid  in  picturing  ancient 
Israel  travelling  through  the  great  wilderness, 
and  in  showing  how  God  delivered  them  from 
all  their  foes. 

His  wonder  as  an  orator  broke  out  in  un- 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      161 

measured  splendour  as  he  portrayed  the  power  of 
God  at  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea.  A  pathetic 
spectacle  were  the  Hebrew  slaves,  as  they  fled 
out  of  Egypt  pursued  by  the  embattled  legions 
of  Pharaoh.  As  the  Lord's  people,  as  he  called 
them,  got  hemmed  up  with  the  sea  in  front  of 
them  and  the  great  armies  charging  in  the  rear, 
he  actually  made  the  people  cry  in  dread  and 
terror  lest  these  refugees  should  be  totally  ex- 
tinguished. The  scene  was  so  lifelike  and  over- 
mastering that  shudders  swept  through  the 
crowd,  and  women  were  wild  with  actual  fright. 
Then  when  Moses  came ;  when  the  rod  was 
stretched  over  the  sea  and  the  waters,  as  if  ap- 
palled by  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God,  be- 
gan to  part  and  roll  back  until  they  left  a  clear 
passage  between  ; — why  everybody  could  see  it. 
It  was  as  plain  as  a  great  road  in  the  broad  day- 
light, and  as  the  Hebrews,  with  revived  hope, 
in  solid  columns,  moved  across,  his  people  took 
fire ;  they  literally  shouted  the  children  of  Israel 
over.  Jasper  himself  was  leading  the  host, 
cheering,  shouting  to  them  not  to  be  afraid,  and 
telling  them  that  God  would  bring  them  safely 
through.  It  looked  to  me  as  if  half  of  the 
women  were  clapping  their  hands  or  dancing, 
and  the  other  half  were  rolling  off  the  benches  in 
the  excess  of  their  rapture,  as  the  last  of  the 
children  of  Israel  came  trudging  out  upon  the 
banks. 


162  JOHN  JASPER 

But  instantaneously  Jasper  brought  a  revulsion 
of  feeling.  He  discovered  the  vast  host  of 
Pharaoh  marching  with  music  and  with  banners 
through  the  parted  walls  of  the  Red  Sea.  They 
were  coming  too !  After  all,  the  people  had 
shouted  too  soon.  The  triumphant  Egyptians 
would  soon  be  upon  them,  and  the  chosen  of  the 
Lord,  after  all,  must  be  destroyed. 

Why,  look  1  The  host  is  half-across  ;  three- 
fourths  now,  getting  nearer  and  nearer.  "  Oh, 
my  God,"  Jasper  cried,  with  a  shriek  of  despair. 
"  Help  1  help  1  or  Thy  people  will  be  blotted 
out" 

All  over  the  house  there  were  sobs  and  groans 
and  cries  of  fright.  Once  more  the  hand  of  the 
master  was  upon  them,  and  he  swayed  them  as 
he  would.  Then  with  a  shout  he  cried :  "  De 
walls  of  de  Red  Sea  are  fallin' !  De  partid 
waturs  rush  inter  each  udder's  imbrace.  Oh, 
ye  heavens,  shout  an'  let  de  earth  be  glad.  Let 
hell  ter  its  mos'  remotes'  dep's  quake  and  cry : 
1  De  Lord  Gord  is  a  man  uv  war.  De  Lord  is 
His  name  ! '  Tell  de  tidin's.  Shout  it  everywhar 
dat  Gord  hav'  delivured  His  people." 

I  have  always  liked  fine  speaking.  Oratory 
has  a  resistless  charm  for  me.  I  bow  to  the  man 
who  thrills  me.  If  Jasper  wasn't  the  soul  of 
eloquence  that  day,  then  I  know  not  what  elo- 
quence is.  He  painted  scene  after  scene.  He 
lifted  the  people  to  the  sun  and  sank  them  down 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      163 

to  despair.  He  plucked  them  out  of  hard  places 
and  filled  them  with  shouting.  As  long  as  I  live 
all  that  Red  Sea  business,  with  Egypt  and  the 
fleeing  Hebrews  and  Pharaoh  and  his  great 
legions  and  the  sea  and  the  ruin  and  the  great 
deliverance,  are  mine  to  keep  as  long  as  my 
mental  powers  can  act.  True,  Jasper  made  me 
ridiculous  three  or  four  times  by  so  convulsing 
me  with  laughter  that  I  wanted  to  roll  on  the 
floor,  but  it  didn't  make  me  frivolous  a  bit.  I 
never  knew  that  wit  was  such  a  deep  and  serious 
thing  before. 

The  old  orator  had  to  stop  "  to  blow " 
awhile,  and  it  was  a  strictly  original  noise  he 
made,  as  he  refilled  his  exhausted  lungs  with  a 
fresh  supply  of  oxygen.  The  rush  of  air  fairly 
shook  the  glass  in  the  windows  and  could  have 
been  heard  perhaps  for  a  square  off.  All  at 
once  his  face  began  to  brighten  with  a  smile, 
which  almost  amounted  to  an  illumination.  He 
said  it  "  kinder  'mused  him  ter  ubsurv  Gord's 
keen  way  uv  wurryin'  Pharo'  inter  lettin'  His 
people  go." 

I  am  a  failure  on  dialect,  but  this  part  of  the 
afternoon's  entertainment  came  with  such  sur- 
prise that  it  was  photographed  on  my  memory 
in  a  way  it  can  never  be  blotted  out.  Jasper 
took  up  the  several  plagues  which  he  asserted 
that  God  sent  upon  the  Egyptian  monarch,  de- 
claring that  as  Pharo'  was  too  much  of  a  brute 


164  JOHN  JASPER 

to  hear  reason,  or  to  feel  afraid,  the  Lord  decided 
to  tease  and  torment  him  with  reptiles  and  in- 
sects, and  then  he  added :  "I  tell  yer,  my 
brudderin,  dis  skeme  did  de  buzniss  fer  Pharo,',, 
He  kum  frum  ridin'  one  day  an'  wen  he  git  in 
de  pallis  de  hole  hall  is  full  uv  frogs.  Dey  iz 
scamperrin'  and  hoppin*  roun'  tel  dey  farly  kivur 
de  groun'  an'  Pharo'  put  his  big  foot  an'  squash' d 
'em  on  de  marbul  flo'.  He  run  inter  his  parler 
tryin'  ter  git  away  frum  'em.  Dey  wuz  all 
erroun'  ;  on  de  fine  chars,  on  de  lounges,  in  de 
pianner.  It  shocked  de  king  til'  he  git  sick. 
Jes'  den  de  dinner  bell  ring,  an'  in  he  go  ter  git 
his  dinner.  Ha,  ha,  ha  1  It's  frogs,  frogs,  frogs 
all  erroun'  1  Wen  he  sot  down  he  felt  de  frogs 
squirmin'  in  de  char;  de  frogs  on  de  plates, 
squattin'  up  on  de  meat,  playin'  ovur  de  bred, 
an*  wen  he  pick  up  his  glas  ter  drink  de  watur 
de  little  frogs  iz  swimmin'  in  de  tum'ler.  Wen 
he  tried  ter  stick  up  a  pickul  his  fork  stuck  in  a 
frog ;  he  felt  him  runnin'  down  his  back.  De 
queen  she  cried,  and  mos'  faintid  an'  tol'  Pharo' 
dat  she  wud  quit  de  pallis  befo'  sundown  ef  he 
didn't  do  somthin'  ter  cler  dem  frogs  out'n  de 
house.  She  say  she  know  wat  iz  de  mattur ; 
twuz  de  Gord  uv  dem  low-down  Hebrews,  an' 
she  wantid  him  ter  git  'em  out  uv  de  country. 
Pharo'  say  he  wud,  but  he  wuz  an  awful  liar  • 
jes*  es  dey  tel  me  dat  mos'  uv  de  pollitishuns 
iz." 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  18Y8      165 

Just  then  my  vagrant  eye  caught  the  string 
of  legislators  who  had  high  seats  in  the  syna- 
gogue and  it  looked  to  me  as  if  every  Senegam- 
bian  in  that  seething  herd  was  sampling  those 
rustic  statesmen  while  they  took  on  an  awfully 
silly  look ;  or  rather  I  think  it  was  on  most  of 
them  before.  "  I  can't  pikshur  up  all  dem 
plagues,  but  I  mus'  giv  you  more  'sperunce  uv 
dem  brutish  people  in  de  pallis  dat  wuz  so  cruel 
ter  de  Hebrew  folk.  One  mornin'  de  king  wake 
up  an'  he  wuz  ackin'  from  hed  ter  foot  He 
farly  scratch' d  his  skin  off  his  body,  an'  out  he 
jumps,  an'  as  I  liv'  he  finds  hisse'f  farly  civured 
ovur  wid  vermin.  'Bout  dat  time  de  queen,  she 
springs  up,  an'  sich  scratchin'  an'  hollerrin'  Pharo' 
nevur  herd  frum  her  befo',  an'  when  he  look  at 
her  dey  is  crawlin'  all  over  her  an'  she,  fergitten 
her  queenship,  iz  dashin'  erroun'  de  room  shakin' 
her  rappurs  an'  scratchin'  and  screamin'  tel 
presn'tly  she  brek  loose  on  de  king  agin.  'Bout 
dat  time  dar  wuz  a  yell  in  de  nussery,  an'  in 
kums  de  little  Pharoes  an'  dey  runs  scratchin' 
and  hollerin'  an'  kickin'  ter  der  mudder.  Der 
heds  wuz  full  wid  'em  ;  dere  hands  wuz  all  bit  an' 
swelFd,  an'  wen  der  mudder  jerk'd  off  der  nite 
gowns  jes'  thousans  uv  'em  iz  runnin'  over  'em 
frum  hed  ter  foot.  Pharo'  wuz  rich,  but  riches 
don't  kill  fleas.  Pharo'  had  big  armis,  but  sol- 
jeers  can't  conquer  an  army  of  lice.  Pharo'  had 
servunts  by  de  thousans,  but  all  uv  'em  put  to- 


166  JOHN  JASPER 

gedder  cudn't  pertek'  dem  little  Pharoes  an* 
princesses  frum  dat  plague  dat  an  angry  Gord 
sent  ter  skurge  Pharo'  an'  mek  'im  willin'  ter  let 
His  chil'n  go." 

This  is  a  sample.  Jasper's  imagination  was 
like  a  prairie  on  fire.  The  excitement  in  the  con- 
gregation was  of  a  new  order ;  he  was  tickling 
them  in  a  new  spot,  or  rather  in  forty  spots  at 
once,  and  the  noise  in  the  house  was  almost  like 
the  roar  of  a  tempest  I  never  was  in  such  a 
conglomerate  mood.  His  picture  of  the  plagues 
convulsed  me  with  laughter, — would  have  killed 
me  dead,  I  verily  believe,  but  for  the  counteract- 
ing effect  of  the  horror  excited  in  me.  And  more 
than  that,  the  trials  of  the  Hebrew  slaves  loomed 
up  before  me  all  the  time.  I  was  subconsciously 
pitying  them,  and  anxious  to  get  my  fingers  on 
the  damnable  throat  of  the  tyrant  I  never  knew 
what  it  was,  until  that  day,  to  have  all  sorts  of 
feelings  at  the  same  time.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
the  strain  would  have  to  be  ended  without  going 
further. 

But  Jasper  wasn't  done,  and  things  were  com- 
ing on  which  it  was  impossible  to  foresee.  Sud- 
denly I  found  Jasper  on  a  new  trail.  This  time 
it  was  what  he  called  the  assassination  of  Isaac. 
I  discovered  that  Jasper  could  talk  quite  grammat- 
ically when  he  was  on  his  dignity ;  but,  when  he 
struck  the  abandon  and  lawlessness  of  his  im- 
agination, he  dropped  back  into  his  dialect  and 


then  he  was  at  his  greatest.  I  found  also  that  he 
delighted  in  ponderous  and  sesquipidalian  words. 
He  rolled  them  under  his  tongue, — save  when 
the  words  themselves  sometimes  rolled  his  tongue 
up, — and  when  he  hit  assassination,  the  pronun- 
ciation would  have  made  a  thoughtful  mule 
smile.  But  the  word  was  simply  a  bit  of  dyna- 
nite  to  blow  up  his  crowd  and  to  kindle  new 
flames  in  his  fancy. 

Jasper's  picture  of  Abraham  had  the  flavour  of 
a  poem.  He  stood  him  up  on  a  lofty  pedestal, 
painted  him  as  a  man  without  a  vice  ; — the  pink 
of  a  gentleman,  the  prince  of  his  tribe,  the  com- 
panion of  the  Lord  God,  the  faithful  father  and 
the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  Since  that  day,  when- 
ever I  get  tired  or  feel  that  I  have  done  some- 
thing mean,  and  want  to  give  my  moral  nature  a 
set  up,  I  recall  Jasper's  poem  on  Abraham. 

The  incident  upon  which  he  fastened  was  the 
tragical  story  of  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  He  told 
how  the  Lord  waked  Abraham  up  at  night  and 
tickled  the  old  gentleman  with  the  thought  that 
there  were  some  new  honours  coming  on  for 
Isaac,  and  then  in  a  flash,  commanded  him  to 
take  the  boy  and  go  on  a  three  days'  run  to 
a  mountain  and  kill  and  burn  him  up.  The 
way  he  portrayed  the  mental  and  emotional 
conflicts  of  Abraham  during  those  days  was  like 
a  steel  pointed  plow  in  the  soil  of  the  soul.  Then 
when  they  got  in  sight  of  the  mountain  and 


168  JOHN  JASPER 

Abraham  halted  the  cavalcade,  and  he  and  the 
boy,  parting  from  the  rest,  set  out  to  climb  the 
mountain  alone  I  got  mad  and  felt  like  ripping 
the  whole  schedule  into  fragments.  There  was 
a  deadly  hush  on  the  crowd.  The  air  was  tense, 
and  all  who  were  capable  of  it  turned  pale.  Just 
then  Jasper  gave  a  slight  jerk  to  the  turn  of 
things  and  came  to  my  relief. 

"  Why  yer  reckin  Gord  try  dis  thing  on  Abra- 
ham ? "  Jasper  asked  in  a  singularly  cool  man- 
ner. "  I  tell  yer  why.  Gord  not  only  wants  ter 
know  His  people  iz  all  rite,  but  He  wants  de  wurP 
ter  know  dat  dey  iz  all  rite,  an'  more  dan  dat,  He 
wants  His  people  ter  hev  de  comfut  dat  dey  is  all 
rite  too.  Over  in  de  Hebrews,  most  near  de  en' 
uv  de  Bibul,  we  iz  inform' d  dat  by  faith  Aberham, 
wen  he  wuz  tried,  offur'd  up  Isuk.  God  know'd 
dat  Aberham  lov'  Isuk  better  dan  anything  on 
de  earth,  an'  dat  he  got  mity  big  hopes  'bout  his 
son's  futur.  So  de  Lord  broke  on  'im  onexpectid 
an'  order*  d  'im  ter  git  out  ter  Mount  Morier  an* 
put  his  son  ter  death.  It  look  mity  hard  an' 
strange  ter  Aberham,  but  he  wuk'd  it  out.  He 
say  ef  Gord  es  gwine  ter  carry  out  de  plan  'bout 
Isuk  raisin*  a  gret  nashun  an*  he  kill  Isuk, 
den  de  Lord  hav  ter  rais'  'im  up  agin,  an'  so  he 
say  I'll  do  wat  de  Lord  tel  me  an'  ax  no  ques- 
tions. 

"By  de  way,  yonder  dey  iz,  on  de  top  uv  de 
mountin.  Aberham  put  up  thar  a  big  altur  an' 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      169 

he  done  tuk  dat  wood  dat  Isuk  kerried  an'  put 
it  under  de  altur  to  start  de  fire.  He  also  got  de 
knife  laid  out  dar  shinin'  in  de  sun,  sharp  es  a 
razer.  He  call  Isuk  an'  Isuk  walk  up  pert  an' 
willin'  an'  mity  intristid  in  wat's  gwine  on,  an' 
wonderrin'  whar  his  father  gwine  to  git  an  offrin', 
whar  de  lam'  fer  de  slaughter  wuz.  Den  Aber- 
ham  ondress  Aisuk  an'  tie  his  feet  an'  han's  an' 
lay  'im  up  on  dat  altur.  Solem  time,  I  tell  yer. 
Den  he  turn  roun'  an'  pick  up  dat  blade  an'  he 
turn  roun'  ter  de  altur  an:  up  he  lif  his  gret  arm 
high  over  his  hed  wid  de  knife  in  his  han'.  It 
stay  up  dar  a  sekkun',  an'  den  wid  a  suddin  flash 
down  it  starts. 

"  Oh,  my  Gord  !  Aberham's  han'  's  parrer- 
lized ;  fer  de  earth  farly  shuk  wid  de  mity 
vois  uv  de  Lord  Gord  :  '  Aberham,  Aberham, 
hoi'  on !  Lay  not  thy  han'  erpon  de  chile 
uv  de  Promis'.  I  jes'  wan'  ter  try  yer  ! '  Wat 
dat  out  dar  in  de  brush  erblatin'  and  erscramb- 
lin'  ?  Gord  had  prepar'd  de  sacrerfice,  an'  Aber- 
ham, undoin'  de  boy's  han's  an'  feet,  hugs  'im 
ter  his  hart  and  cries  and  shouts  tell  it  look  lik 
de  pillers  uv  de  heavens  trimbul'd  wid  de  joy." 

Now  this  is  the  way  I  remember  it,  but  Jasper 
was  never  put  on  paper.  If  you  were  not  there, 
you  don't  understand.  Of  course,  it  was  foolish 
in  me,  but  that  great  crowd  was  in  such  a  tumult, 
and  John  Jasper  seemed  in  some  way  so  transfig- 
ured, and,  without  knowing  why,  I  was  greatly 


170  JOHN  JASPER 

tempted  to  let  out  one  tremendous  yell.  There 
was  something  in  me  that  needed  to  be  let  off, 
and  I  cannot  tell  what  I  really  did,  and  no  mat- 
ter any  way.  The  strain  was  so  pitiless  that  I 
wanted  fresh  air  and  would  probably  have  gone 
out,  except  that  it  was  the  one  thing  that  was 
physically  impossible. 

Yet  another  scene  comes  back  to  me.  Jasper 
had  paraded  his  Scriptures  in  long  array  in  sup- 
port of  his  view,  that  the  sun  do  move,  and  he 
had  such  a  tempestuous  sense  of  victory  that  he 
turned  loose  all  of  his  legions  upon  his  scientific 
antagonists.  He  called  them  his  "  Ferloserfers  " 
and  talked  hotly  about  the  books  which  they 
were  all  the  time  sending  him.  He  said  that  he 
would  like  to  "  huddle  all  dese  books  in  a  pile 
an'  cornsine  'em  ter  de  flames.  Dat's  wat  ought 
ter  be  done.  Dey  ar  weppuns  wid  wich  Satun 
wud  'stroy  de  Word  uv  Gord." 

The  approval  of  this  radical  proceeding  was 
accentuated  with  groans,  and  shouts,  and  scorn- 
ful laughter,  which  surged  through  the  house 
like  a  maddened  river.  As  a  fact,  I  am  not 
much  ahead  of  Jasper  in  scientific  knowledge, 
but  I  am  not  one  of  those  flabby  sort  who  jumped 
up  to  say  that  Jasper  was  simply  voicing  what 
they  had  believed  all  the  time.  Through  it  alls 
I  kept  on  believing  in  the  rotation  of  the  earth, 
just  as  I  had  before,  and  I  really  thought  before 
I  got  there  that  I  would  get  enough  fun  out  of 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      1T1 

the  occasion  to  supply  me  for  scores  of  Sundays. 
The  curious  result  of  it  all  was  that  Jasper  didn't 
convert  me  to  his  theory,  nor  did  he  convert  me 
to  his  religion,  but  he  did  convert  me  to  himself. 
I  found  myself  turning  to  him  with  a  respect  and 
kindliness  of  feeling  that  greatly  surprised  me. 
I  felt  his  greatness.  I  believed  in  his  sincerity, 
and  to  me  he  was  a  philosopher,  sound  in  his 
logic,  mighty  in  his  convictions,  though  he  might 
be  wrong  in  his  premises. 

Now  in  plain  contradiction  of  what  I  have  said 
I  must  make  an  admission.  In  the  triumph  of 
his  ending  Jasper  polled  his  crowd  to  see  how 
his  theory  was  prospering.  He  bade  every- 
body who  really  endorsed  his  theory  that  the  sun 
moved  to  show  the  hand.  I  stretched  up  my 
arm  about  four  feet,  and  would  have  punched  the 
ceiling  with  my  fingers  if  it  could  have  been 
done.  Yes,  I  voted  that  the  earth  was  flat  and 
had  four  corners,  and  that  the  sun  drove  his 
steeds  from  the  gates  of  the  morning  over  to  the 
barns  in  the  West,  and  I  never  asked  the  ques- 
tion for  a  moment  as  to  how  the  team  was  got 
back  during  the  night.  Call  me  a  hypocrite,  if 
it  will  comfort  you  to  do  it ;  that's  a  very  gentle 
way  to  speak  to  a  reporter,  but  I  was  dead  sin- 
cere. My  vote  was  in  favour  of  Jasper's  logic, 
his  genuineness,  his  originality,  his  philosophic 
honesty,  and  his  religion.  If  it  was  hypocrisy  to 
hold  up  the  hand  on  that  occasion,  then  there 


172  JOHN  JASPER 

was  a  mammoth  pile  of  hypocrites ;  for  it  seemed 
to  me  that  there  were  forty  hundred  of  the 
Brirareus  family  present  and  that  the  last  one  of 
them  tried  to  hold  up  each  one  of  his  hands 
higher  than  all  of  his  other  hands  and  higher 
than  anybody  else's  hands. 

I  got  full  wages  for  my  vote.  To  look  at  old 
Jasper  with  his  parted  lips,  his  smile,  which  be- 
lied every  sign  of  his  oratorical  ferocity  and 
vengefulness,  and  his  unspeakable  aspect  of  con. 
quest  and  glory  as  the  people  wrung  his  hand 
and  poured  their  happy  benedictions  upon  him. 

After  the  sermon  the  old  brother,  with  the 
snow-capped  head  and  the  shaking  voice,  struck 
up  one  of  the  prayer-meeting  choral  songs.  He 
spun  it  out  rather  thin,  but  reinforcements  came 
in,  and  by  the  time  they  struck  the  chorus  the 
tramp  of  the  feet  all  in  unison  seemed  to  me 
strong  enough  to  crash  down  the  bridge  over 
Niagara,  and  as  for  the  singing,  its  appeal  was 
to  the  imagination, — at  least  to  mine, — and  I 
actually  fancied  that  I  could  hear  the  invisible 
choirs  in  which  armies  of  angels  and  nations  of 
the  ransomed  were  joining  with  full  voice. 

I  had  Jasper  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper 
that  week.  Down  at  the  office  they  called  me 
"  Jasper,"  and  up  at  the  boarding-house  the  land- 
lady's boy,  who  stayed  in  bed  next  day  from  his 
bruises,  was  constantly  singing,  and  making  me 
help  him,  the  choral  song  with  which  the  meet- 


IN  THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  1878      173 

ing  broke  up  and  the  old  Yankee  preacher  and 
the  inevitable  boy  had  me  telling  all  the  time 
of  the  multitudinous  things  that  happened  at 
Jasper's  church. 

Months  and  months  have  since  gone.  The 
Jasperian  uproar  has  ebbed,  and  I  am  still  the 
bad  reporter,  and  latterly  have  changed  my  desk 
and  work  on  Sunday,  but  often  and  often  I  dream 
about  Jasper,  and  every  time  I  dream  I  fancy 
that  I  have  joined  his  church  and  that  he  and  I 
shouted  when  he  baptized  me.  No,  I  have  never 
been  back.  I  do  not  wish  to  build  on  to  my  ex- 
perience, and  I  do  not  want  it  marred  by  finding 
Jasper  less  commanding  and  kinglike  than  he 
was  on  that  spring  time  Sabbath  that  afternoon 
of '78. 


XV 

JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN 

I  NEVER  heard  Jasper  preach  a  sermon  on 
heaven,  nor  did  I  ever  hear  of  his  doing  so.  So 
far  as  my  observation  goes,  sermons  on  heaven 
have  failed  to  edify  the  thoughtful — sometimes 
proving  distinctly  disappointing.  It  was  not  to 
Jasper's  taste  to  argue  on  heaven  as  a  doctrine. 
With  him  it  was  as  if  he  were  camping  outside 
of  a  beautiful  city,  knowing  much  of  its  history 
and  inhabitants,  and  in  joyous  expectation  of 
soon  moving  into  it  The  immediate  things  of 
the  kingdom  chiefly  occupied  his  attention  ;  but 
when  his  sermons  took  him  into  the  neighbour- 
hood of  heaven,  he  took  fire  at  once  and  the 
glory  of  the  celestial  city  lit  his  face  and  cheered 
his  soul.  This  chapter  deals  only  with  one  of 
his  sermons  which,  while  not  on  heaven,  reveals 
his  heart-belief  in  it,  and  its  vital  effect  upon  his 
character. 

Imagine  a  Sunday  afternoon  at  his  church — a 
fair,  inspiring  day.  His  house  was  thronged  to 
overflowing.  It  was  the  funeral  of  two  persons — 
William  Ellyson  and  Mary  Barnes.  The  text  is 
forgotten,  but  the  sermon  is  vividly  recalled. 


JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN      175 

From  the  start  Jasper  showed  a  burden  and  a 
boldness  that  promised  rich  things  for  his  people. 
At  the  beginning  he  betrayed  some  hesitation — 
unusual  for  him.  "  Lemme  say,"  he  said,  "  a  word 
about  dis  William  Ellersin.  I  say  it  de  fust  an' 
git  it  orf  mer  min'.  William  Ellersin  was  no 
good  man — he  didn't  say  he  wus  ;  he  didn't  try 
to  be  good,  an'  de  tell  me  he  die  as  he  live,  'out 
Gord  an'  'out  hope  in  de  worl'.  It's  a  bad  tale 
to  tell  on  'im,  but  he  fix  de  story  hissef.  As  de 
tree  falls  dar  mus  it  lay.  Ef  you  wants  folks  who 
live  wrong  to  be  preached  and  sung  to  glory, 
don'  bring  'em  to  Jasper.  Gord  comfut  de  monur 
and  warn  de  onruly. 

"  But,  my  bruthrin,"  he  brightened  as  he  spoke, 
"  Mary  Barnes  wus  difrunt.  She  wer  wash'd  in 
de  blood  of  de  Lam'  and  walk'd  in  white  ;  her 
r'ligion  was  of  Gord.  Yer  could  trust  Mary  any- 
whar ;  nuv'r  cotch  'er  in  dem  playhouses  ner 
friskin'  in  dem  dances  ;  she  wan'  no  street-walk'r 
trapsin'  roun'  at  night.  She  love  de  house  of  de 
Lord ;  her  feet  clung  to  de  straight  and  narrer 
path  ;  I  know'd  her.  I  seen  her  at  de  prarmeetin' 
— seed  her  at  de  supper — seed  her  at  de  preachin', 
an'  seed  her  tendin'  de  sick  an'  helpin'  de  mounin' 
sinn'rs.  Our  Sister  Mary,  good-bye.  Yer  race 
is  run,  but  yer  crown  is  shure." 

From  this  Jasper  shot  quite  apart.  He  was 
full  of  fire,  humour  gleamed  in  his  eye,  and  free- 
dom was  the  bread  of  his  soul.  By  degrees  he 


176  ,TJOHN  JASPER 

T. 

approached  the  realm  of  death,  and  he  went  as 
an  invader.  A  note  of  defiant  challenge  rang  in 
his  voice  and  almost  blazed  on  his  lips.  He  es- 
corted the  Christian  to  the  court  of  death,  and 
demanded  of  the  monster  king  to  exhibit  his 
power  to  hurt.  It  was  wonderful  to  see  how  he 
pictured  the  high  courage  of  the  child  of  God, 
marching  up  to  the  very  face  of  the  king  of  terrors 
and  demanding  that  he  come  forth  and  do  his 
worst.  Death,  on  the  other  hand,  was  subdued, 
slow  of  speech,  admitted  his  defeat,  and  pro- 
claimed his  readiness  to  serve  the  children  of 
Immanuel.  Then  he  affected  to  put  his  mouth 
to  the  grave  and  cried  aloud  :  "  Grave  !  Grave  1 
Er  Grave  1 "  he  cried  as  if  addressing  a  real  per- 
son, "  Whar's  yer  vict'ry  ?  I  hur  you  got  a 
mighty  banner  down  dar,  an'  you  turrurizes  ev'ry- 
body  wat  comes  long  dis  way.  Bring  out  your 
armies  an'  furl  fo'th  your  bann'rs  of  vict'ry.  Show 
your  han'  an'  let  'em  see  wat  you  kin  do."  Then 
he  made  the  grave  reply  :  "  Ain't  got  no  vict'ry 
now ;  had  vict'ry,  but  King  Jesus  pars'd  through 
dis  country  an'  tord  my  banners  down.  He 
says  His  peopF  shan't  be  troubled  no  mo'  forev'r  ; 
an'  He  tell  me  ter  op'n  de  gates  an'  let  'um  pass 
on  dar  way  to  glory." 

"  Oh,  my  Gord,"  Jasper  exclaimed  in  thrilling 
voice,  "  did  yer  hur  dat  ?  My  Master  Jesus  done 
jerk'd  de  sting  of  death,  done  broke  de  scept'r  of 
de  king  of  tur*rs,  an'  He  dun  gone  inter  de  grave 


JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF    1EAVEN      177 

an*  rob  it  uv  its  victorous  banners,  an'  fix'd  nice 
an'  smooth  for  His  people  ter  pass  through.  Mo' 
en  dat,  He  has  writ  a  song,  a  shoutin'  anthim  for 
us  to  sing  when  we  gothur,  passin'  suns  an'  stars, 
an'  singin'  dat  song,  '  Thanks  be  onter  Gord — be 
onter  Gord  who  give  us  de  vict'ry  thru  de  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.' "  Too  well  I  know  that  I  do  scant 
justice  to  the  greatness  of  Jasper  by  this  outline 
of  his  transcendent  eloquence.  The  whole  scene, 
distinct  in  every  detail,  was  before  the  audience, 
and  his  responsive  hearers  were  stirred  into  un- 
controllable excitement. 

"  My  bruthrin,"  Jasper  resumed  very  soberly, 
"  I  oft'n  ax  myself  how  I'd  behave  merself  ef  I 
waster  git  to  heav'n.  I  tell  you  I  would  tremble 
fo'  de  consequinces.  Eben  now  when  I  gits  er 
glimpse — jist  a  peep  into  de  palis  of  de  King,  it 
farly  runs  me  ravin'  'stracted.  What  will  I  do  ef 
I  gits  thar  ?  I  'spec  I'll  make  er  fool  of  myself, 
'cause  I  ain't  got  de  pritty  ways  an'  nice  man- 
ners my  ole  Mars'  Sam  Hargrove  used  to  have, 
but  ef  I  git  thar  they  ain't  goin'  to  put  me  out. 
Mars'  Sam'll  speak  fur  me  an'  tell  'em  to  teach 
me  how  to  do.  I  sometimes  thinks  if  I's  'lowed 
to  go  free — I  'specs  to  be  free  dar,  I  tell  you, 
b'leve  I'll  jest  do  de  town — walkin'  an'  runnin'  all 
roun'  to  see  de  home  which  Jesus  dun  built  for 
His  people. 

"  Fust  of  all,  I'd  go  down  an'  see  de  river  of 
life.  I  lov's  to  go  down  to  de  ole  muddy  J ernes 


178  JOHN  JASPER 

-—mighty  red  an'  muddy,  but  it  goes  'long  so 
gran'  an'  quiet  like  'twas  'tendin'  to  business — 
but  dat  ain't  nothin'  to  the  river  which  flows  by 
de  throne.  I  longs  fer  its  chrystal  waves,  an'  de 
trees  on  de  banks,  an'  de  all  mann'rs  of  fruits. 
Dis  old  head  of  mine  oft'n  gits  hot  with  fever, 
aches  all  night  an'  rolls  on  de  piller,  an'  I  has 
many  times  desired  to  cool  it  in  that  blessed 
stream  as  it  kisses  de  banks  of  dat  upper  Canaan. 
Bl'ssed  be  de  Lord !  De  thought  of  seein'  dat 
river,  drinkin'  its  water  an'  restin'  un'r  dose 
trees "  Then  suddenly  Jasper  began  to  in- 
tone a  chorus  in  a  most  affecting  way,  no  part  of 
which  I  can  recall  except  the  last  line :  "  Oh, 
what  mus'  it  be  to  be  thar?"  "Aft'r  dat," 
Jasper  continued  with  quickened  note,  "  I'd  turn 
out  an'  view  de  beauties  of  de  city — de  home  of 
my  Father.  I'd  stroll  up  dem  abenuse  whar  de 
children  of  Gord  dwell  an'  view  dar  mansions. 
Father  Abraham,  I'm  sure  he  got  a  grate  pallis, 
an'  Moses,  what  'scorted  de  children  of  Israel 
out  of  bondige  thru'  de  wilderness  an'  to  de 
aidge  of  de  promised  Ian',  he  must  be  powerful 
set  up  being  sich  er  man  as  he  is ;  an'  David, 
de  king  dat  made  pritty  songs,  I'd  like  to  see  'is 
home,  an'  Paul,  de  mighty  scholar  who  got 
struck  down  out  in  de  'Mascus  road,  I  want  to 
see  his  mansion,  an'  all  of  'em.  Den  I  would 
cut  roun'  to  de  back  streets  an'  look  for  de  little 
home  whar  my  Saviour  set  my  mother  up  to 


JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN     1Y9 

housekeepin'  when  she  got  thar.  I  'spec  to 
know  de  house  by  de  roses  in  de  yard  an'  de 
vine  on  de  poch."  As  Jasper  was  moving  at 
feeling  pace  along  the  path  of  his  thoughts,  he 
stopped  and  cried :  "  Look  dar ;  mighty  sweet 
house,  ain't  it  lovely?"  Suddenly  he  sprang 
back  and  began  to  shout  with  joyous  clapping 
of  hands,,  "  Look  dar ;  see  dat  on  de  do ; 
hallelujah,  it's  John  Jasper.  Said  He  was  gwine 
to  prepar  a  place  for  me  ;  dar  it  is.  Too  good 
for  a  po'  sinner  like  me,  but  He  built  it  for  me,  a 
turn-key  job,  an'  mine  forev'r."  Instantly  he 
was  singing  his  mellow  chorus  ending  as  before 
with  :  "  Oh,  what  mus'  it  be  to  be  thar  1" 

From  that  scene  he  moved  off  to  see  the 
angelic  host.  There  were  the  white  plains  of 
the  heavenly  Canaan — a  vast  army  of  angels 
with  their  bands  of  music,  their  different  ranks 
and  grades,  their  worship  before  the  throne  and 
their  pealing  shouts  as  they  broke  around  the 
throne  of  God.  The  charm  of  the  scene  was 
irresistible ;  it  lifted  everybody  to  a  sight  of 
heaven,  and  it  was  all  real  to  Jasper.  He  seemed 
entranced.  As  the  picture  began  to  fade  up  rose 
his  inimitable  chorus,  closing  as  always :  "  Oh, 
what  mus'  it  be  to  be  thar  ! " 

Then  there  was  a  long  wait.  But  for  the  sub- 
dued and  unworldly  air  of  the  old  preacher — full 
seventy  years  old  then — the  delay  would  have 
dissolved  the  spell.  "An*  now,  frenz,"  he  said, 


180  JOHN  JASPER 

still  panting  and  seeking  to  becalm,  "ef  yer'll 
'scuse  me,  I'll  take  er  trip  to  de  throne  an'  see 
de  King  in  'is  roy'l  garmints."  It  was  an  event 
to  study  him  at  this  point.  His  earnestness  and 
reverence  passed  all  speech,  and  grew  as  he 
went.  The  light  from  the  throne  dazzled  him 
from  afar.  There  was  the  great  white  throne 
— there,  the  elders  bowing  in  adoring  wonder — 
there,  the  archangels  waiting  in  silence  for  the 
commands  of  the  King — there  the  King  in  His 
resplendent  glory — there  in  hosts  innumerable 
were  the  ransomed.  In  point  of  vivid  descrip- 
tion it  surpassed  all  I  had  heard  or  read.  By  this 
time  the  old  negro  orator  seemed  glorified. 
Earth  could  hardly  hold  him.  He  sprang  about 
the  platform  with  a  boy's  alertness  ;  he  was  un- 
consciously waving  his  handkerchief  as  if  greet- 
ing a  conqueror ;  his  face  was  streaming  with 
tears ;  he  was  bowing  before  the  Redeemer  ;  he 
was  clapping  his  hands,  laughing,  shouting  and 
wiping  the  blinding  tears  out  of  his  eyes.  It 
was  a  moment  of  transport  and  unmatched 
wonder  to  every  one,  and  I  felt  as  if  it  could 
never  cease,  when  suddenly  in  a  new  note  he 
broke  into  his  chorus,  ending  with  the  soul-melt- 
ing words  :  "  Oh,  what  mus'  it  be  to  be  thar  1 " 
It  was  a  climax  of  climaxes.  I  supposed  noth- 
ing else  could  follow.  We  had  been  up  so  often 
and  so  high  we  could  not  be  carried  up  again. 
But  there  stood  Jasper,  fully  seeing  the  situation. 


JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN     181 

He  had  seen  it  in  advance  and  was  ready.  "  My 
bruthrin,"  said  he  as  if  in  apology,  "  I  dun  f er- 
got somethin'.  I  got  ter  tek  anuth'r  trip.  I  ain't 
visit'd  de  ransum  of  de  Lord.  I  can't  slight  dem. 
I  knows  heap  ov  'em,  an*  I'm  boun'  to  see  'em." 
In  a  moment  he  had  us  out  on  the  celestial  plains 
with  the  saints  in  line.  There  they  were — count- 
less and  glorious !  We  walked  the  whole  line 
and  had  a  sort  of  universal  handshake  in  which 
no  note  of  time  was  taken.  "  Here's  Brer  Abul, 
de  fust  man  whar  got  here ;  here's  Brer  Enoch 
whar  took  er  stroll  and  straggled  inter  glory ; 
here's  ole  Ligie,  whar  had  er  carriage  sent  fur  'im 
an'  corned  a  nigher  way  to  de  city."  Thus  he 
went  on  greeting  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles, 
martyrs,  his  brethren  and  loved  ones  gone  before 
until  suddenly  he  sprang  back  and  raised  a  shout 
that  fairly  shook  the  roof.  "  Here  she  is ;  I 
know'd  sh'd  git  here ;  why,  Mary  Barnes,  you 
got  home,  did  yer  ?  "  A  great  handshake  he 
gave  her  and  for  a  moment  it  looked  as  if  the 
newly-glorified  Mary  Barnes  was  the  centre  of 
Jasper's  thoughts;  but,  as  if  by  magic,  things 
again  changed  and  he  was  singing  at  the  top  of 
his  voice  the  chorus  which  died  away  amid  the 
shrieks  and  shouts  of  his  crowd  with  his  plaintive 
note :  "  Oh,  what  mus'  it  be  to  be  thar ! " 

Jasper  dropped  exhausted  into  a  chair  and 
some  chief  singer  of  the  old-time  sort,  in  noble 
scorn  of  all  choirs,  struck  that  wondrous  old 


182  JOHN  JASPER 

song,  "When  Death  Shall  Shake  My  Frame," 
and  in  a  moment  the  great  building  throbbed 
and  trembled  with  the  mighty  old  melody.  It 
was  sung  only  as  Jasper's  race  can  sing,  and 
especially  as  only  Jasper's  emotional  and  im- 
passioned church  could  sing  it.  This  was  Jasper's 
greatest  sermon.  In  length  it  was  not  short  of 
an  hour  and  a  half — maybe  it  was  longer  than 
that.  He  lifted  things  far  above  all  thought  of 
time,  and  not  one  sign  of  impatience  was  seen. 
The  above  sketch  is  all  unworthy  of  the  man  or 
the  sermon.  As  for  the  venerable  old  orator 
himself  he  was  in  his  loftiest  mood — free  in  soul, 
alert  as  a  boy,  his  imagination  rioting,  his  action 
far  outwent  his  words,  and  his  pictures  of  celes- 
tial scenes  glowed  with  unworldly  lustre.  He 
was  in  heaven  that  day,  and  took  us  around  in 
his  excursion  wagon,  and  turning  on  the  lights 
showed  us  the  City  of  the  Glorified. 

What  is  reported  here  very  dimly  hints  at 
what  he  made  us  see.  Not  a  few  of  Richmond's 
most  thoughtful  people,  though  some  of  them 
laid  no  claim  to  piety,  were  present  and  not  one 
of  them  escaped  the  profound  spiritual  eloquence 
of  this  simple-hearted  old  soldier  of  the  cross. 

Valiant,  heroic  old  man !  He  stood  in  his 
place  and  was  not  afraid.  He  gave  his  message 
in  no  uncertain  words — scourged  error  wherever 
it  exposed  its  front  stood  sentinel  over  the  word  of 
God  and  was  never  caught  sleeping  at  his  post 


JASPER'S  PICTURE  OF  HEAVEN      183 

When  his  work  ended,  he  was  ready  to  go  up 
and  see  his  Master  face  to  face. 

The  stern  old  orator,  brave  as  a  lion,  rich  in 
humour,  grim,  and  a  dreamer  whose  dreams  were 
full  of  heaven,  has  uttered  his  last  message  and 
gone  within  the  veil  to  see  the  wonders  of  the 
unseen.  If  the  grapes  of  Eschol  were  so  luscious 
to  him  here,  "  Oh,  what  must  it  be  for  him  to 
be  there." 


Printed  in  the  United   States  of  America 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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Form  L9-Series  444 


"'!'  co 
001  loo 


